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“Class was important in
Colonial America because
Get out Basics 2
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Indentured Servants
In 1738, at the age of 25,
Johann Heinrich Silvius left Germany to start a new life in the American Colonies.
He started by riding up the Rhine river, to
Once he arrived in Rotterdam, Johann boarded a large
sailboat called the Queen Elizabeth.
The image above is his actual signature.
The image to the left is a drawing of a ship similar to the Queen
On June 22, 1738, he left for what should have been a week long trip to Deal, England.
On June 22, 1738, he left for what should have been a week long trip to Deal, England.
Deal
On June 22, 1738, he left for what should have been a week long trip to Deal, England.
Deal
But, the ship got caught in a storm, and spent three to five weeks at sea.
If Johann did not have enough money to pay for his ticket (£10), he would have had to make a
deal with ship’s captain.
The captain would take Johann across the Atlantic, but then he would sell him to a colonist upon arrival to get his money back.
Johann would then work for the colonist until he paid off the price of his passage to the New World – which depending on age,
After eight to twelve weeks at sea, the Queen Elizabeth landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 16, 1738.
An old family story says that Johann was sold upon arrival, and worked off his
debt as an “indentured servant” in a city called Germantown, Pennsylvania for three to five years.
Indentured servants were not slaves. They were
Europeans who chose to work for a colonist until they
worked off the cost of their boat ride to America.
What
is
this?
At the end of their terms, many indentured servants got a small piece of land to
Though indentured
servants like Johann
chose to come to
America, their trip, their
lives, and their work
were anything but easy!
Open your book to chapter three,
“Who were the Colonists?”
Read pages 35 to 43 and put stickers
on important facts and ideas to
19 ao:1743
The 25th of January [to] Henrich Sylvius and his wife Anna Margretha
a son was born [and] was baptized on the 17th of April; [he] was named Johann
Nicklaus; the witnesses were Nicklaus Ickes and Anna Clara Ickesin
By 1743, Johann Heinrich Silvius was married to Anna Margretha Petty and had a son, named Nicholas Silvius. He was born on January 25, 1743 and baptized at the Jordan Lutheran Church in
Orefield (South Whitehall Township), Pennsylvania.
On April 4, 1756, at the age of 12, Nicholas Silvius was kidnapped by Native Americans
and taken to French Canada…
…where he lived with them near
modern day Montreal for five
years…
…until he was released and returned at age 18
in 1761.
This advertisement ran on July 2 & 9,1761 in Benjamin Franklin’s “Pennsylvania Gazette,” telling families to come pick up their
Nicholas/Nickol-s Silvius
Enlistment July 19, for 3 months, born Pennsylvania,
Age 21, 5 feet, 10 inches, Long faced, Gray Eyes,
Gelan Hair, no Trade listed, Qualified July 29, 1763. Two years later, in 1763,
Nicholas signed up to fight for the British colonies in the French and Indian War. Here
The war lasted from 1754 to 1763. The French lost,
and were forced to
surrender all the territory you see in light blue to
Britain.
Though the British won, the war was expensive. Britain’s leaders decided that the colonists should pay for at least
In 1777, Nicholas Silvius, now 34 years old, a husband to Catherine Best, and a father of two girls, enlisted to fight in the
war. He joined the 4th
Pennsylvania Infantry Battalion, which was led by Anthony Wayne (seen right):
But instead of asking the colonists to pay taxes, the
British demanded it.
Nicholas survived the war and died on December 13, 1802. His second daughter, Maria Elizabeth Silvius
(1772 - 1852), married John Adam Baker (1771- 1832). The colonists resisted,
triggering a rebellion that became the American War of
Johann Heinrich Silvius
DOB 1713 Palatinate, Germany
DOD 1776 Chestnut Hill, Forks, Northampton County, PA
Indentured Servant
Anna Martha Petty
John Nicholas Silvius
DOB 1/15/1743 Northampton County, PA
DOD12/13/1802
Salem, Westmoreland County, PA Kidnapped by Native Americans 1756-1761
French and Indian War 1763 American War of Independence 1777-1783
Catherine Best
DOB 10/20/1743
Lehigh Township, Northampton County, PA DOD12/2/1808
Salem, Westmoreland County, PA
Wilhelm Best
DOB 11/30/1713 Pfalz, Switzerland,
DOD 11/24/1762 Indianland, Lehigh Northampton County, PA
Anna Susanna Schaffer
DOB 11/30/1713 Pfungstadt, Hessen, Palatinate,
Germany Marriage 1732 Palatinate, Germany (Age 15)
DOD 1769