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How we all got here...
On September 3, 1739, there arrived in the Port
of Philadelphia the good ship "Loyal Judith," Edward Paynter, Commander, from Rotterdam but last from Deal, England,
carrying 88 German male immigrants of 16 years of age or older. The best estimate of the total number of immigrants
on the Loyal Judith is 220. The estimate was arrived at by using the formula set forth in the Introduction to Pennsylvania
German Pioneers by Ralph Beaver Strassburger, LL.D., and William John Hinke, Ph.D., D.D., at p. xxxi of Volume I.
Among the immigrants were my 4th Great Grandfather Nicholas Schmall
and his brother Johan Adam Schmall. The surname has had various spellings, including Schmehl, Schmall, Small, Schmeel,
Smell, and Smale. The spelling did not become standardized as Smeal until about 1837.
The record of the arrival of German immigrants is preserved in three sets of ships' passenger lists maintained by the
Pennsylvania State Archives. The three lists are the "A" lists which are the Captains' Lists of passengers
being imported; the "B" lists which are the Oaths of Allegiance to the King; and the "C" lists which are
the Oaths of Abjuration from the Pope. My 4th Great Grandfather appears on all three lists along with his brother Johan
Adam.
Nicholas and Johan Adam settled in southeast Pennsylvania.
One of my ancestors on my maternal side arrived shortly before Nicholas and Johan and settled in New York. The map set
forth below depicts some of the Palatine settlements along the Hudson River.
The scans set forth below show portions of the A, B and C lists where
the names of my 4th Great Grandfather and his brother Johan appear. The B and C lists reveal that both Nicholas and
Johan placed their mark when they took the Oaths of Allegiance and Abjuration.
The above image is from the "A" list which was the Captain's
List. At the top of this list is the following statement: "A List of ye Pallatines Names In ye Loyall Judith, Edwd
Paynter, Master."
The above image is from the "B" list which set forth the
signers of the Oath of Allegiance.
The above image is from the "C" list which set forth the
signers of the Oath of Abjuration.
Dr. Hinke at page xxviii of the Introduction to Pennsylvania
German Pioneers which I referred to above explains that
[i]nternal evidence shows that the two
lists of signatures (lists B and C) were made before different clerks,
seated probably at different desks. This can
be inferred from the fact that when the passengers were unable to write and the
clerk wrote the name for them, the same name is often
spelled in two different ways on the two lists. Besides,
the chirography of the the clerks differs on the two lists. These
facts show that there were two clerks, each superintending the making
of one list.
The ordinary, and for many years the
only place for signing
the oaths was the Court House at Philadelphia on High (now
Market) Street, between 2nd and 3rd . . . .
From
the scans of the A, B and C lists set forth above we can see that Captain Paynter and the clerks at the Courthouse
engaged in phonetic transcription of my 4th Great Grandfather's surname. Nicholas would state his surname and the
Captain and clerks would write down what they heard or what they thought they heard resulting in variant spellings.
A review of other names on the three lists reveals that this occurred quite frequently.
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