They Came from Germany, Aboard the Thistle

Hawk`s research was motivated by the relationship of his wife, Darlene (Grindstaff) Hawk, to her eighth generation grandfather, Dietrich Crantzdorf (Grindstaff)_born in 1650 in Zweibruken in the Lower Palatinate of Germany. In 1738 Dietrich`s two sons, with wives, boarded the Thistle for Philadelphia _ along with a notable grandson, named Nicholas. Some regions of the Lower Palatinate, heirs of the Protestant Reformation, had become almost depopulated by plundering armies of strong Catholic persuasion. Hawk notes that 1738 was recognized as the deadliest of the sailing seasons, famously called`the year of destroying angels`. Included in Hawk`s work are named Palatine ships of 1738, passenger loads, and dates of embarkation and debarkation. Hawk closely examines the nightmarish crisis at Rotterdam, where waves of Palatines arrived for the Spring voyages, but where ships were late in arriving. The bottleneck caused draining of resources,overloading of ships,rationing at sea, and indenturing upon arrival at Philadelphia. Hawk`s data suggests that delays in debarkation and turmoil were caused by short-spaced departures of overloaded ships from Rotterdam. The popular Dutch ship, fluyt, was commonly used for carrying immigrants to the New World, and Hawk`s work includes an image of this ship, from Culiver"s classic, Old Ships _ courtesy of Dover Publications. Weary Palatines faced a firestorm of social and political resistance at Philadelphia during debarkation . The governor called for the construction of a `Pest house` for those with`Palatine fever`. About 50 years after Dietrich `s grandson, Nicholas, left Germany, he received very large land grants in Johnson County,Tennessee. Nicholas and his generztions_including that of Darlene (Grindstaff) Hawk_ enjoyed prosperity from farming,harvesting timber, and mining iron ore. In 1948 a large TVA dam, approved by President Roosevelt, covered the lovely lands.