Northkill Amish Settlement
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The Northkill Amish Settlement was established in 1740 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. As the first identifiable Amish community in the new world,[1] it was the foundation of Amish settlement in the Americas.
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[edit] Settlement
The first Amish began migrating to the United States in the 18th century, largely to avoid religious persecution and compulsory military service. The Northkill area, in eastern Province of Pennsylvania, was opened for settlement in 1736 and that year Melchoir Detweiler and Hans Seiber settled near Northkill.[2] Shortly thereafter many Amish began to move to Northkill with large groups settling in 1742 and 1749.
In 1742 the group was large enough to petition the Pennsylvania General Assembly for naturalization rights, allowing them to purchase land.[3] The group was strengthened in 1749 when bishop Jacob Hertzler[4] settled in Northkill and the settlement grew to nearly 200 families at its height.[5]
[edit] Indian attack
The Northkill settlement was on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the legal boundary of European settlement according to agreements with Native Americans. During the French and Indian War, local tribes siding with the French attacked the Northkill settlement on September 19, 1757.[6] The Indians attacked the the Jacob Hochstetler family and set their house afire. Even though the Hochstetler sons had the marksmanship to shoot the Indians and defend their family, they did not, at the command of their father who believed in the doctrine of Non-resistance. After the house was set afire, the family, seeking refuge huddled in the basement. The Indians stood guard around the house, so they could not escape without risking their lives. As the fire worsened, the wounded Jacob (he had been shot during the initial attack) tried to help his wife crawl out the celler window. Unfortunately, his wife, being a "fleshy woman" burdened the process of escape. By the time the whole family was clear of the fire, the Indians had surrounded them. It was then that son and daughter were tomahawked and scalped. The wife, whom the Indians seemed to have particular spite for, stabbed her in the heart with a butcher knife and then scalped her. (Family lore maintains that when the Indians had previously come to visit, she was loathe to feed them or be kind to them--hence the lingering resentment.)
As the Indians took their prisoners, Christian and Joseph, sons of Jacob and Jacob himself. As they were led away, Jacob picked up some ripe peaches and advised his sons to do likewise. He also advised them to submit gracefully to their fate as far as possible. Once the prisoners reached the camp the Hochstetler men presented the chief with the previously gathered peaches. The Chief was so pleased by this gesture, he did not make the men run the gauntlet. A kind gesture indeed.
As the father and his sons were separated, he gave them this parting advice in his Swiss dialect: "If you are taken so far away and be kept so long that you forget your German language, do not forget the Lord's Prayer." Being separated, the men rarely, if ever, saw each other. During their captivity they were made to conform to Indian customs and were dressed in that style. Their beards were plucked out and most of their hair.
As all three men were skilled hunters and backwoodsmen, they were each separately adopted into one of the Indian families into full fellowship. While family records are unsure as to what happened to Joseph, the stories of the escape of Christian and Jacob are as follows.
[edit] Decline
Northkill remained the largest Amish settlement into the 1780s and then declined as families moved on to areas of better farmland.[7]
[edit] Legacy
Although it existed for only a brief period, the Northkill settlement was fundamental in establishing the Amish in North America. The Northkill settlers included the progenitors of many widespread Amish families, such as the Yoders, Burkeys, Troyers,[8] Hostetlers,[9] and Hershbergers.[10]
Jacob Hochstetler is the subject of Harvey Hostetler's book The Descendants of Jacob Hochstetler. In addition to listing the hundreds upon hundreds of Americans who share Jacob as a common ancestor, this book provides a detailed history of the Amish religious persecution in Europe, American immigration at the time, the massacre of Hochstetler's family members, and the kidnapping and subsequent escape of Jacob and his sons.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Nolt, p. 74.
- ^ Nolt, p. 74.
- ^ Smith, p. 371.
- ^ Hertzler was the first recorded Amish bishop (or elder) in North America. Nolt, p. 79-80.
- ^ Nolt, p. 75.
- ^ Nolt, p. 84.
- ^ Nolt, p. 86.
- ^ Gingerich, Melvin (1958). "Troyer (Treyer, Treier, Dreier)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2006-12-05, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/t768me.html.
- ^ Hostetler, John A. (1956). "Hostetler (Hostetter, Hochstetler, and many other variations)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2006-12-05, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/h681me.html.
- ^ Hershberger, Guy F. (1956). "Hershberger (Hersberg, Hersberger, Herschberger, Hirschberger, Harshberger, Harshbarger)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 2006-12-05, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/h47710me.html.
[edit] References
- Nolt, Steven M. (2003). A History of the Amish. Intercourse, Pennsylvania: Good Books, 74-86. ISBN 1-56148-393-1.
- Smith, C. Henry (1981). Smith's Story of the Mennonites. Newton, Kansas: Faith and Life Press, 371-372. ISBN 0-87303-069-9.
