The one American city that most of the early generations of our families had in common (excepting the Dutch in New York and a handful of others who arrived in New England and Virginia) was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This was the Philadelphia of the 18th century, the empress city of an era that began about the time Benjamin Franklin arrived there from Boston in 1723 and lasted through the American Revolution. Thus it seems fitting to say a few words about the city that these many immigrants found when they arrived there during that half-century.
Founded by the English Quaker William Penn in 1682, Philadelphia was a late starter. It had quickly risen to prominence, though, and by the mid-1700s Philadelphia was by far the largest, richest, and (most contemporaries agreed) most beautiful city in America. The core of the city stretched westward six or eight blocks from the Delaware River, after which fields and farms predominated. It was orderly, having been laid out in an unusual grid with straight streets (systematically named with numbers running in one direction and tree names the other) and regular, large blocks. But it was also full of energy and enterprise. The overall impression, therefore, was one of spaciousness and neatness, even elegance, along with activity and prosperity. Some visitors paid it the highest compliment (in their eyes) when they said it almost looked European with its sophistication and increasingly impressive church spires. It is not surprising, then, that so many other American cities sought to model themselves on Philadelphia.
This young American metropolis was built on bustling and profitable trade. Its large port area, which dominated Water and Front Streets, ran about two miles along the Delaware River. Here there were scores of businesses to support the city's seafaring industry: factors, ship builders, chandlers, warehouses, rope walks, and provisioners. Ships large and small worked their way up and down the river, which connected Philadelphia with the Atlantic Ocean through Delaware Bay. As exports like lumber, wheat, and iron flowed out and a host of goods from Europe and the West Indies flowed in, Philadelphia reaped profits from the exchange. So, too, was Philadelphia the major port of entry for newcomers. Both trading activities and the constant arrivals of ships bearing immigrants were responsible for its rapid growth in population (from about 10,000 during the 1720s to 30,000 or more by the 1770s).
Quakers had founded Philadelphia, and in so doing they had set the tone for the city. As the 18th century wore on, many non-Quaker groups (most notably Presbyterians and Baptists) had also grown in influence, and thanks to both the tone the Quakers had set and the shared leadership the city had taken on an air of civility, toleration, and good will. As the city was a center of commerce and toleration, it was no surprise that Philadelphia would lead in such fields as printing and publishing, as well as in the arts, science, and medicine. In general, Philadelphia was known for its civility, for its many innovative social institutions (ranging from a public library to a volunteer fire department), and for such cultural manifestations as fine painting and the theater (though it was also not without its poor, its beggars, and, especially, its occasional bouts with the scourge of smallpox).
The city, still the capital of the province of Pennsylvania, was marked by large public buildings and churches, including the noteworthy State House – which we know as Independence Hall owing to its later role – that was built during the first half of the 1700s. This impressive edifice's walled yard, almost an entire city block, was open to the public and served as a kind of park. Rooming houses, public houses, and inns (we would consider some of them restaurants) afforded travelers many choices, though at premium prices, but there were also a large number of substantial residences to house those visitors fortunate enough to know a Philadelphian well.
Philadelphia had a very large public market on High Street, which would later take Market Street as its name. Here farmers from the countryside near and far would bring their products on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Philadelphia's streets, though cluttered with traffic and, like all pre-modern cities, ripe with evidence that animals were used for transportation, were impressive: they often had gutters, brick walkways, trees, and even whale oil lanterns to light the evening hours.
These, then, were the sights that greeted so many of our families when they arrived. None of them seem to have remained in the city of Philadelphia itself for long, instead passing through en route to the vast expanses of good land for which America was even more famous. Whether they stayed in Philadelphia a few days or longer, however, the city must have made an impression on the newcomers, most of whom would never again see, let alone reside in, a comparable city. (Nor would the majority of their descendants.) Arriving in Philadelphia must have been a remarkable introduction to a life that would subsequently be spent far from the sights that had greeted the newcomers upon their arrival.
The chances are good that those newcomers to America also passed through Lancaster, the seat of Pennsylvania's first "western" county, as they took their departure from the Atlantic seaboard and sought a place to reside and, probably, to farm. This small city, larger than many interior towns in England and Germany, was in fact America's first inland town of significance. If Philadelphia had served as the portal for newcomers, Lancaster was the most likely first way station on their route westward. The chances are good that those newcomers to America also passed through Lancaster, the seat of Pennsylvania's first county, as they took their departure from the Atlantic seaboard and sought a place to reside and, probably, to farm. This small city, larger than many interior towns in England and Germany, was in fact America's first inland town of significance. If Philadelphia had served as the portal for newcomers, Lancaster was the most likely first way station on their route westward.
Lancaster, also well-planned by its founders, gained its strategic advantage and prominence not because it was on a major waterway but by taking on the role of market town, commercial center, and road hub. Soon connected to Philadelphia by the King's Highway, it collected goods – furs and foodstuffs – from further west and helped to transfer imports in return to the growing population of the American outback. Set in rich farmland (still producing abundantly today), Lancaster had grown to perhaps 3,000 residents by the mid-1700s. It emulated Philadelphia's orderly grid, early established a community marketplace, and welcomed the hard-working and resourceful German and Swiss immigrants who were streaming into the colony's port city. Many of these settled around Lancaster or opened shops or workshops in the town itself, and soon these German and Swiss newcomers made up a large majority in the town and county of Lancaster.
Lancaster would become well-known as the place to buy things or get them made, and two of its products, guns and wagons, would become both American staples and world famous. Given its population, the area around Lancaster also became distinctive for its many Protestant religious groups, from Lutherans and German Reformed to Amish, Mennonites, Moravians, and Schwenkfelders. All these peoples referred to themselves as Deutsch, which their English neighbors soon transformed into the Pennsylvania "Dutch" moniker we still hear today.
For many of our families, then, these two 18th-century Pennsylvania places – Philadelphia and Lancaster – were their introductions to life in America. Although few of these people remained in either place for long, we at least can reflect, as we visit these cities today, that our ancestors also experienced Philadelphia and Lancaster for a time and perhaps even called one or both of them home for awhile.
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rev. 8/26/10
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