Week 10: Translation

What was it like to come to the English colonies of North America in the 1700's from your native Germany, enduring a rough and possibly dangerous voyage across the Atlantic, and most likely speaking no English?  Who would translate for you?  How would you start a new life on the new continent when you couldn't communicate with most people?

That's what Casper Hess, my 6th great-grandfather, was brave enough to do.  Casper was born in Baden-Württemberg, Germany about 1715 but I don't know what year he made the journey from Germany to the Colonies.  Arrival records are spotty at this time in history and the name Hess was a common one.  The ship lists of immigrants arriving in Philadelphia are incomplete and only males over 16 years of age were recorded.  According to the Pennsylvania German Pioneers book by Strausburger and Hinks:

"Each captain wrote his list on a large, loose sheet of paper which he handed to the magistrate at Philadelphia, who incorporated the names of the signer of the oath of allegiance into the minutes of the council.  What became of the lists of the captains handed in on loose sheets of paper?  Sad to relate, most of them were lost.  Of the 324 ships arriving between 1727 and 1775 we have captain lists for only 138 ships." 

No record of a Casper Hess arriving in Philadelphia has been found.  Does it mean he arrived in another port?  Possibly.  I've seen others post a record on Ancestry.com of a Casper Hess arriving in Carolina in 1743.  But the Carolina colony was a very long distance from York, Pennsylvania where there are records of Casper living and becoming a father.  The surname of Hess is a common one in Germany and I've seen the name of Casper Hess in many time periods and places so I don't think the man who arrived in Carolina was him.

What I do know is that my ancestor Casper Hess married a woman by the name of Maria Eva (maiden name unknown) and together they had a daughter Maria Magdalena in 1745 and a son George Balser in 1747.  Unfortunately, the family didn't have long together because at some point between 1747 when George Balser was born and in 1752 when the widow Maria Eva remarried to Philip Peter, Casper died. He would have been in his 30s at the time. He died intestate (leaving no will) so his death may have been sudden or violent.  It wasn't until 1759, seven years after Maria's marriage to Philip Peter, that an estate was opened for Casper.  The inventory of his estate included some real estate, a house, some household goods, ten books,  a cow, and other items.  The personal property was said to be worth 37 pounds, eight shillings, and four pence more than the value of the real estate.

In his short time in the American colonies Casper was probably a farmer.  He married, had children, and provided for his family, then died a premature death.  What he didn't know was that his son George Balser would someday be a soldier in the American Revolution.  The town of York, Pennsylvania where Casper had lived was a hotbed of activity during the war.  In September of 1777 the Continental Congress moved the location of the colonies' central government to York and it was there where the Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation.  York was the Capital of the United States for nine months until June 27, 1778.  

I'm sure Casper would have been proud to know of his son George Balser's service to the new country.  And I'm sure he would have wondered why it took Maria so long to open his estate.