Jacob’s Story

In the previous post, Philip established his family in Pennsylvania and he, perhaps, lives until 1788. We also learned of a tragic incident in which Philip’s son, Jacob, was killed and Jacob’s wife taken prisoner but their son, George, survives.

Again, the details are few concerning this event. All we really know is what Helman^[1] recorded in her genealogy. She tells us that “according to James Laux, historian”, Philip Drum’s son, Jacob, “was killed by the Indians, and he in turn had a son, George Drum, who was a lad 12 years old when his father was killed, and his mother captured by the Indians.”^[2] Family oral tradition says that when the farm was attacked, George escaped by hiding in the chimney; the house and all their holdings were either burned, stolen, or otherwise destroyed.

Jacob’s story was repeated in other families over and over, up and down the east coast, but especially in Eastern Pennsylvania. In 2005, Kevin Drum, then of Circleville, Ohio and not part of “our” Philip’s tree, in a note to me, told of his family’s night of terror that happened in 1757 “back in Pennsylvania”. He got the story as it was told by his Grandfather⁴, Eli Drum, who, in turn, heard the story from his Grandfather, George Drum. According to the story, it was a stormy night “when a band of Indians broke into his (Eli’s) Grandfather’s house (Johann Adam Drum) …and brutally murdered him (Johann) and took his wife and son (19-year-old George) hostage.” Kevin then added, “luckily for the future of the Drum family – he (George) escaped and went on to have a whole clutch of kids.”

Kevin did not say where “back in Pennsylvania” Johann’s farm was located but it is likely it was in or near Moore Township. Moore Township is just northwest of Easton, southeast of Jim Thorpe, and north of Allentown, “nestled against the Blue Mountains” according to the township webpage^[3]. The webpage says that around 1755 approximately

…200 American Indians swarmed over the mountains leaving behind a trail of death and chaos. Estimates of 100-200 settlers were slain in Northampton County, and hundreds more were displaced. Homes and farms were burned, livestock was slain, crops were destroyed.”

Another story from closer to the time Jacob was killed is the story of the Harvey family. Benjamin Harvey and his family were quietly sitting in their eastern Pennsylvania home when fourteen Indians walked in and took the family prisoners. Sometime thereafter, the women and children were released but Benjamin and his two sons continued to be held captive. As they marched along, the elderly Benjamin was unable to keep up. The Indians, therefore, decided to kill him. Forcing him to stand erect, they threw tomahawks at him but the weapons all missed him! This caused the Indians to believe that his life was “charmed” so they released him. Although he experienced many hardships along the way, he did find his way home and lived to tell the story. His two sons were taken to Canada where they were eventually ransomed.^[4]

Helman tells us “our” George Drum, son of Jacob, was born in 1762 and was 12 at the time of the attack, marking the year of the attack on Jacob’s farm as 1774. Again, so many questions! Where was the farm located? What time of day and during what time of year did the attack occur? Was Philip and/or his wife still alive? If so, where were they living at the time? Philip would have been 72 years old if he was still alive at the time of his son’s death in 1774.

A search of deeds and warrants for this period conducted to find this farm’s location turned up nothing for Jacob but a land warrant was discovered under the name of “Phillip Drum” in Moore Township dated May 1, 1767. Certainly, this is a candidate for Jacob’s farm!

Such searches result in a lot of similar activity by a Philip (one “L” or two) Drum in, and around this area. He appears in the Pennsylvania Septennial Census of 1786 being counted in Moore, the same census that counted George in Williams Township. He pays taxes in Moore in 1781, 1786, and 1788. In addition to the May 1, 1767 land warrant, there are also warrants under this name dated Sept. 9, 1765, May 19, 1767, and April 6, 1768 in Northampton County but not tagged to a specific township. The questions we are left with are if any or all of these Philip/Phillip’s are the same person and if any or all are “our” Philip!

On Wednesday, May 30, 2018, I was looking for information via the WWW about types of stones used for gravestones in early America when I came across a page of early German-American gravestones. One was for a “Jacob ? Born April 16, ??, Died August 1, 1775.” The website said the gravestone was in a cemetery behind the St. Pauls UCC of Indianland which is in Cherryville but has a mailing address of Walnutport. No, I can’t explain that and no, when I visited there, I didn’t ask. The church’s website listed the grave and even provided a map to help locate the various stones in the cemetery.

Now this stone’s inscription intrigued me. This church is almost exactly where I’d have put Jacob’s farm. About 10 miles north of Allentown, 15 miles west of Easton, 8 miles west of the center of Moore Township and about 40 miles south of Drumyngham (the name I’ve given to my home in Drums). The year of death, 1775, was wrong for “our” Jacob; of course, we think Jacob died in 1774. However, 1775 was still close enough to make it reasonable to check it out. My thought, hope, was that by looking at the stone, I might see a clue that could make the connection; that this was the grave of Philip Drum’s son, Jacob Drum. So, on Thursday, May 31, 2018, I found myself in my car heading south.

This is a road map that was put out by Texaco in 1975. I've labeled points of "Drum" interest. The yellow star is Cherryville, the location of Jacob's grave.

Pennsylvania is a beautiful state, even if it is a foggy day and you can’t see a darn thing in front of your car. As I turned off I-80 East and onto I-476 South; also known as the Northeast Extension and, at one time, The Blue Route[5], I went from a drizzly mist into a disturbingly dense fog. “How apropos!” I thought. Here I was, on my way to a cemetery deep in what was once the center of the Pennsylvania German community, to look at a gravestone that only might be an ancestor’s; hoping to part the fog of time while driving through a fog of the present. Apropos in-deed.

I found the church easy enough - looked just like the photo on their web page. I walked around behind the church and saw row upon row of graves. So, I went to the second row back, counted three stones in and found a very German gravestone which had stuff inscribed on it, very little of which could I make hide nor hair of; in fact, I could hardly see it.

Stones this old are already in poor condition just due to exposure to the elements. We don't need to make matters any worse by aggressively attacking the engravings. I carefully removed some lichen and a bit of moss, but still found very little I could make out. I looked at it from various angles, still very little. 

The word “geboren” (born) could be made out as was the word “gestorben” (died); perhaps there was a name at the top but if so, it clearly was not “Jacob”; and something was inscribed across the bottom that I could not make out at all. The rest, dates, etc. were so difficult to make out I finally gave up. I wondered how the church folks could read it!

I took some photos, jumped back in my car, and headed home. If this was Jacob’s stone, I couldn’t find that name on it anywhere.

Back to the web page I went to double-check myself. Yup, right behind the church, fourth row back, third grave from the road. Wait. FOURTH row? I was in the SECOND row! I studied the wrong stone. Friday, June 1, although just as overcast and threatening as Thursday but this time with less fog (again apropos), back I went to the church in Indianland, I mean Cherryville, I mean, well you know. Nothing had changed from the day before. Back around behind the church I went, counted back FOUR rows, this time, then three stones in. There it was. This one looked a bit more like the picture on the web page. I’d found the stone and only on my second try. But what does the stone say? It was another stone you could hardly read anything on. This one, however, clearly had MUCH more inscribed on it than just “geboren” and “gestorben”.

The stone is in terrible shape. It is slowly being dissolved by air pollution and lichen. That’s what those dark areas are all about. Lichen is a terrible enemy of grave stones. Air pollutants and the freeze-thaw cycle begin to weaken the stone's surface. Taking advantage, the lichen puts a bit of acid onto the stone’s already weakened surface and then, when the stone grows softer in that spot, inserts a tiny root. Then it repeats the process. Eventually, the stone’s surface begins to break apart and washes away or is blown away by the wind. The key word here is “away”. That is what is happening to this stone.

I could still make stuff out on this stone, however. There, in the upper right area beneath the decorative head, I was able to make out “JACO”. Only by very careful, extensive examination of the stone was I able to find the “B”. A word near the bottom sure looked like “August” and across the bottom row on the stone was clearly cut “177” and a mark that could possibly be a “3” or a “5”. Whatever it is, it seems smaller and at an unusual angle compared to the “177”.

Out came the camera. A few photos later, a wave to the lawn maintenance guy who’d just arrived on his huge, yellow, riding lawn-mowing machine, and I was back on the road headed north for the second time in two days. I don’t know why but both days my GPS sent me south via I-476 (approximately 51 miles) but the return trip was via Route 93 (approximately 49 miles). Both are beautiful drives but then, after all, we are talking Pennsylvania.

The question remains, however, is it “our” Jacob buried beneath this stone? Well, first of all, no matter who belongs to this marker, he isn’t “under” the stone. He might be near-by. Apparently in the late 1940’s, the stones were moved into straight rows to enhance grounds maintenance. Seems a lot of churches were doing this then; sort of a “grounds maintenance thing”. I’m certain the guy riding his huge yellow mower would have been more than thankful for the 1940’s effort had he known about it! I guess that really isn’t important, however. That the stone still exists is important bringing us back to that vexing question, “did we find Jacob Drum?”

I studied the photos, changed them to black and white, enlarged them, slanted them, studied them for seven hours (cumulative, not consecutive), and I did come to a few conclusions. First, I think I just may be crazy. I mean, who does stuff like this!? Second, if you look at a thing long enough, you can begin to see anything you want to see! I wasn’t getting anywhere so I finally drew what I thought I was seeing onto graph paper so I could check it out later and see if I still agreed with what I originally drew.

Sometimes such drawings are also helpful when trying to decide if something is a “B” or a “D”, but not always. For example, take the first letter I can “see” in Line 6. In one photo it looks like an “N”, in another photo, I’m certain it is an “R”. I can see that there are words on the stone, but letters are missing. In line 3 I can see what looks like parts of letters but can’t be sure what letters they are. In line 2 I can’t be sure if that first object is part of a letter or a crack in the stone!

On my graph I included the areas where the lichen damage exists as well, and, of course, the places the year of birth and Jacob’s last name would fall are places that are almost totally gone.  To see if I could figure out what was missing, I began to run words and phrases through “Google Translate” to see if I could match potential letter placements on the stone to known words. I might think it’s an “E” but by comparing my drawing with actual German words, I see it might really be a “B” or a “space” might be a missing “P”, etc.

Following inscription patterns seen on other stones from the same culture and a similar time-frame; basing my ideas on what happened to Jacob and George; I tried various phrases until something seemed to work. In the end, I think I may have actually deciphered the writing on this stone. Remember, however, my mother always accused me of having a good imagination. Very little of the following can be vouched for, for certain! Stuff in BLUE is totally made-up wishful thinking. The rest of it is probably more wishful thinking than fact but here goes. I am “certain” the stone once read:

hier liet Jacob
Drum bgraben
geborn April16
1730. Geliebter
Vater. von brutal
en Heiden getö
tet. Gestor
ben 11 August
MO 1773

hier liet Jacob Drum b[e]graben. gebor[e]n April16, 1730. Geliebter Vater. von brutalen Heiden getötet. Gestorben 11 August 1773 MO

Jacob Drum has been buried here. (Here was Jacob Drum buried) Born April 16, 1730. Beloved father. Killed by brutal heathens. Died August 11, 1773.”

If you can see any of that in the photo above, you’ve been staring at it at least seven hours.

Jacob's stone - front

Reverse of Jacob's stone

Here is another photo from a different angle, just in case you are tired of staring at the other one.

BTW, as you can see here, the back of this stone is quite beautifully carved.

And since I mentioned the back of this stone, here is the back of the “wrong” stone I looked at first. It too has a beautifully carved back.

"Wrong" stone's back.

I find it interesting, irritating, and just a tad ironic, that the beautiful artwork carved into the backs of these stones is carved very deeply. If only the words on the front had been thus carved.

The “MO” had me perplexed for awhile. It seems somehow disconnected from the rest of the inscription. Although rather large, it occurred to me that it may be the initials of the stone-carver. So, I looked closely at the beautifully carved “wrong stone” to see if it was on that stone as well. Sure enough, there in the lower right (this time) corner of the front of the stone is what appears to me to be “MO”, at a similar angle and similar large size.

Funny how one of the few things I think I can actually see in the inscription of these stones is the carver’s initials!

As for the 1775 vs. 1773 issue (at one time I thought it was a 0): I am not able to make out if it is a “5” or a “3”. Either way, 5 or 3, I don’t believe it is a “4”.

BTW, the church website says the date of death is August 1, 1775. I do not see anything after the word “August” but I do see two lines before it which I read as 11.

So, we end almost where we started, in a fog. Without additional information we cannot be sure if Jacob’s resting place has been found. What we found is a grave in the “right” location given what we know of Jacob’s history. Where the last name would most likely be on the stone, there is not a lot of space, but just right for the four letters that make up the name “Drum”. Helman tells us George was born in June of 1762 and that he was “a lad 12 years old” when the attack occurred, thus 1774. August of 1773 would make him 11 years and 2 months. Are we splitting hairs? Did Helman mess up doing her arithmetic? August of 1775 would be 13 years and two months. Of course, is 1762 correct?

Sometimes it is all about that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach. Feelings you get in the pit of your stomach are not usually how historians determine fact over fiction, but then, I’m not an Historian! I’m just a guy with a lot of curiosity who sometimes talks to the pit of his stomach. My stomach tells me I’ve found Jacob and he rests in, of all places for a man who lost his life to an Indian raid, Indianland.

Return to Drums of Drums, PA on August 13, 2018 for our next post, The Drums of Drums Arrive in Drums.

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[1] Helman, Laura M., History and Genealogy of the Drum Family (Allentown, PA: Berkemeyer, Keck & Co., 1927).

[2] Helman, p3

[3] http://mooretownship.org/historical.html accessed 6/10/2016

[4] Markle, Gladys J., “When Pennsylvania was Frontier”, Annals of the Sugarloaf Historical Association, Vol. 1 (Hazleton, PA: Sugarloaf Historical Association, 1934) p34.

[5] I-476 is an extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and happens to travel northeast, thus “Northeast Extension. As for Blue Route, well, back in the 1950’s when officials were thinking about adding a northeast extension, they had three possible routes marked on a map, each in a different color. The route I-476 followed was marked in blue, thus “The Blue Route”.

One Life Well-Lived, One Life Cut Short

In the previous post, #2 – Into the Unknown, Philip traveled with his family across the European continent and the Atlantic Ocean to begin a new life in America, leaving his former life behind.

Now we come to a gap in the story. Just what happens in the lives of this little Family in the 35 years from when Philip signs the oaths in Philadelphia in 1738 and his son, Jacob, meets his death about 1774, is almost unknown. Of course, a lot happened across the American colonies and around the world during these years. On June 10, 1752, the scientist, philosopher, and statesman Benjamin Franklin sent a kite into the air during an electrical storm to demonstrate the properties of electricity.[1]

France and Great Britain fought a war around the globe and across the North American colonies that became known as “The French and Indian War”. It was also known as “the Seven Years War” and, in some places, as “George Washington’s War” since it was George Washington that brought on the first engagement of the war on American soil. It lasted from 1754 until the final treaty was signed in 1763.[2]

A book from my library.

In 1761, while arguing against the Writs of Assistance – vaguely defined search warrants issued by Great Britain – lawyer James Otis declared that “taxation without representation is tyranny!” John Adams, who later became our first Vice-President and then our second President, was in the room and heard these words spoken. He declared this moment to be the first act in the American Revolution.[3]

That 35-year period was a busy time and things promised only to get busier!

It must have been busy for these Drums as well. Philip, if he was still alive, had to find land to live on and income to buy goods. Shelter had to be built, the land needed to be cleared, and crops needed to be raised for food. It must have been much harder for Jacob and his mother if Philip had died shortly after his arrival in Philadelphia as some have claimed. However, a search of newspapers of the time found a notice of land for sale at the Forks placed in the German Newspaper by one Philip Drum in 1750. Forks Township surrounds Easton, PA. Easton sits at the point where the Lehigh River meets the Delaware River. Was this “our” Philip? There likely were more than one. In fact, there is much evidence that this was the case.

With or without Philip, the family must have lived within, and was cared for by, the Pennsylvania German Community, members of which probably met them at the dock in Philadelphia. This community was very strong in the Easton/Allentown area of Pennsylvania at that time; an area that includes places like Whitehall, Moore, Cherryville, Walnutport, and Williams.

Jacob grew from a child into a young man, married, and began a family of his own. Apparently, according to evidence posted on-line by other researchers, Jacob married a woman named Catherine Strauss[4] in 1749[5]. Catherine and Jacob both appear to have the same birth year making them both 19 years of age at the time. If the date of 1749 is the year they married, as far as we know it would be another thirteen years before their first child comes along, certainly the first to survive, the little boy they named George.

This story about Catherine Strauss, however, may not be factual. One of "our" "cousins", Susan Lehrmitt, great granddaughter of Lavina Drum ^{(Philip+W2, George, Jacob, Philip)} Straw, dropped me a comment on January 16, 2022 that pretty much blows the story out of the water, as they say. Darn. And I SO wanted that information to be correct. I was suspicious of it because I could not find anything to confirm it as fact. Susan appears to have found what I could not and sent me the following to set the record straight. Please let me know if you have found evidence that is contrary to what Susan has submitted. However, she wrote:

  Hi Ron. As a great granddaughter of Lavina Drum, I appreciate all the work you've done on tracing the Drum history. I've been sweating with Ancestry.com, and finally concluded that Philip Drum, well-documented resident of Moore Township, could not be Jacob's father or George's grandfather. Moore Philip’s will and Zion's Church graveyard records clearly document his 1721 birth and 1788 death as well as listing children. No mention of deceased Jacob or orphaned grandson George. The 1788 will states his daughter "Catharout" married Henry Strauss. (This created a possible Catherine Strauss, but not Jacob’s wife!) This Philip, born in 1721, was too young to be the grandfather of “our” George, born in 1762. The 1779 confirmation of “Joh. George Drum”, at age 16 in First Church of Christ, Easton validates his 1762 birth year. George seemed to be very connected to the Woodring (Wotrin) family of Williams Twp: his future wife and brother-in-law were also listed in the confirmation records of the same church. I suspect he lived in Williams Township from an early age, and perhaps Jacob did as well. George was a member of the Williams Township Militia (under Capt. Peter Hays)along with Philip Woodring. I’m even wondering if the Wotring family took George Drum in after his father’s death. It doesn’t seem like he had any nearby relatives.
I think you are right to question the facts surrounding Jacob’s demise. I haven’t found anything to substantiate this charming family story. 1774 seems late for Indian attacks in Northampton County—most Indians had moved west by 1768. It’s very odd that 12-year-old George would be an only child—-those women really produced babies! And wouldn’t George be a bit big to fit in the fireplace at that age? I have found enough Catherine Strauss information to convince me that she could not have been George’s mother. The Zion's Church Allen Twp. record reports that a Catherine Strauss married a Jacob Drum, but she could not have borne George Drum in 1762. Her mother Gertraut Trum was born in 1748 and her father Heinrich Strauss in 1738. There certainly could be a “Trum-Drum” connection, but the dates don’t work for those folks to be our direct ancestors. So, I have reluctantly deleted the Strauss name from my tree and replaced it with a question mark. Lots of questions remain!
Keep on digging..
Susan Smith Lehrmitt

I guess, as they say, that ends that! BTW, I am still a believer in the Jacob Farm Attack story, but agree there are a number of details about it that need to be cleaned up. Of course, this puts quite a dent in a few other posts I've written, not to mention surmises included below in this post. Like I said, "Darn". But many thanks to Susan for keeping this all on track! Now back to the story.

The year 1761 was an important year in many ways. In September of that year, Jacob’s wife, Catherine(?), became pregnant and, although the treaty wasn’t signed until 1763, the actual fighting of the French and Indian War on the North American continent ended in 1761. The role George Washington played in the start of the war on this continent made him an international celebrity and his fame only grew as the war progressed. Many in the colonies and around the world saw him as an American celebrity rivaling that of Benjamin Franklin.

As “American” feelings and fervor grew through the 1750’s into the 1760’s many people began to think of themselves more as Americans than as British. Were Jacob and Catherine(?) counted in this group? Were they both “moved” enough to cause them to choose the name “George”, after George Washington, for their new son who was born in June of 1762? Or were they keeping faith with the promise made by Philip upon his arrival in Philadelphia in 1738 and naming their son after King George of Great Britain?

The French and Indian/Seven Years War was an expensive war. To help cover the costs of this war, Great Britain passed new taxes, specifically the unpopular StampTax of 1765. This act set into motion a series of events that included the event Paul Revere called “The Boston Massacre” in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773. In 1775, the year after Jacob lost his life, the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired in Concord, Massachusetts[6] and the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.

Our next glimpse of this little family is given to us by Laura Helman in a genealogy she wrote for the Drums in 1927[7]. In her book she tells of a tragedy – the loss of Jacob and his wife in an attack by American Indians around 1774.

From 1737 through 1790 there was great unrest in the native population of Eastern Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, and Virginia. The Indians suffered continual encroachment on their traditional hunting and home lands by “new” people from Europe. Numerous times they tried to make peace with these new peoples only to be disappointed or worse almost every time. Any peace that was established proved to be only temporary. It happened over and over, again and again, throughout the North American continent and across its long history after the Europeans arrived.

From a brochure for the
Pocono Indian Museum,
Bushkill, Penna.

The unrest felt in eastern Pennsylvania was greatly exacerbated by an agreement made in 1737, one year prior to the arrival of Philip and his family on the Glasgow, between the Lenni Lenape Indians, also known as the Delaware Indians, and the two sons of William Penn who managed affairs after his death. The agreement became known as “The Walking Purchase”. As more and more Europeans arrived in Pennsylvania, more and more land was required to house them; land that was controlled by the Lenni Lenape. The Penns approached the Lenni Lenape chief Nutimus and offered to buy the needed land. An agreement was concluded that said the Lenni Lenape would sell the land that fell within a triangle to be formed by the Delaware River to the east and a line to be made by a man walking perpendicular to the river for a day and a half.

On the surface it seemed to be a reasonable proposition. However, the Penn’s did not plan to play honestly. They hired three men, professional runners, and started them training months before the date of the “measurement”. Men were sent out to cut a path through the brush and undergrowth, station boats at creek crossings, and provide supplies along the route. On the appointed day at the appointed hour of noon, the three men set out, walking at first but quickly picking up the pace until they were in full run. The Indians quickly realized they were being tricked and became furious. They complained bitterly but there was little they could do to stop the fraud.

The first runner, Solomon Jennings, fell exhausted after 2.5 hours and covering 19 miles. Jim Yates dropped out on the second day, but Edward Marshall continued until he had reached a total of 65 miles in 18 hours. He then quit as well and the “purchase” was over. The triangle thus created covered more than 1,200,000 acres. It encompassed the area of Pennsylvania that today includes the cities of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton; the heart of the Pennsylvania German Community in the second half of the 18^th Century. 

Of the “purchase”, Chief Nutimus said, “If this purchase must hold, why then we are no more brothers and friends but much more like open enemies.” The fraud was often cited as one of the primary grievances by the Lenni Lenape, a wound felt deeply far into the 1790’s, echoes of which are still felt yet today.[8]

The Europeans not only took the land, but they imposed their wars and disagreements on the Indians as well. Native peoples felt forced to take sides to safe-guard their future; choosing sides depending on which side they thought might best serve their cause. However, between the French, the British, and the colonists/Americans, it was a hard choice! Even within the colonists, themselves, there were disagreements! Both Connecticut and Pennsylvania claimed lands in what would become Northeastern Pennsylvania, eventually resulting in the Yankee-Pennamite wars (a series of battles on the ground and in the courtroom between 1769 and 1786). These wars ended when the court awarded the lands to Pennsylvania. It was out of this conflict that the county of Luzerne was created as part of the final decision.[9]

Between the Seven Years War, Yankee-Pennamite War, Walking Purchase, and other similar interactions with the native population, it is no wonder they were somewhat upset with the “newcomers”! And they let the “newcomers” know it in the most harsh and savage ways. They were, after all, fighting for their land and their very existence. To be a settler on the “frontier” in those days took courage! Many settlers’ lives were ended during an attack upon their farm by Indians, often working with French or British soldiers, depending on the war taking place at the time.

By the 1770’s, it was usually the British working with the Indians when farms were raided. By keeping the frontier in chaos, the British at first hoped the colonists would seek safety with the British and later, when the American Revolution had begun, hoped so many American soldiers would be needed on the frontier to protect the settlers, there would not be enough to carry on the war of rebellion. It would be this chaos on the frontier that would end Jacob’s life and change George’s forever.

In 1774, because of the unrest between the colonists and the British, communities began to establish “Committees of Observation” whose purpose was to monitor developments and, through their sub-committees of communication, keep everyone informed and aware of what was transpiring across the colonies. When Northampton County elected their Committee of Observation in December of 1774, included on the membership list was one Philip Drum[10].  Was this “our” Philip? It certainly would make sense for a 72-year-old man who just lost his son and daughter-in-law to an Indian attack, especially if it was aided by British soldiers, to become civically active in this manner. Of course, we cannot be sure. All that is recorded are the member’s names.

Since we do not know when Philip died, perhaps we may continue with our flights of fancy! It is just as likely that Philip lived till 1788 as it is that he died in 1739. A record has been located of a Will that went to probate November 22, 1788. The deceased was named Philip Drum and had lived in Moore Township. As continues to be the case, however, it is difficult to know if this was “our” Philip. In fact, a record of a Revolutionary Soldier from Northampton County named Philip Drum has also been located showing him as having died in November of 1788. The Will could very easily be THIS Philip’s and not “our” Philip’s.

However, an intriguing potential connection between this Will and “our” Philip does exist and it has to do with Jacob’s wife, Catherine Strauss, who was taken by the Indians during that awful attack in 1774. The executor named in the Will was Moore Township resident, Henry Strauss. 

This then raises a question. Why would a man named Drum have someone named Strauss be the executor of his Will unless there was a close family relationship - such as Catherine? Of course, we do not know if Catherine is related to Henry, perhaps she is his daughter, but could this be the evidence needed to show “our” Philip was the same man who wrote the Will that was read in 1788; that “our” Philip lived until November of 1788?

If Philip did indeed live until 1788, Philip certainly lived a long, full, and interesting life! In those 86 years, this man experienced the coldest winter in 500 years, traveled from Bavaria up the Rhine to Rotterdam, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, homesteaded in southeastern Pennsylvania, saw his son marry and have a child, his grandson, only to see his son die, and daughter-in-law carried away, at the hands of American Indians, became civically active at age 72, witnessed the birth of a new nation, watched his grandson march off to war in support of that new nation, saw him get married and have a child, his GREAT-grandson, whom his parents named after HIM, and witnessed the re-birth of that nation under a new constitution![11]

Now THAT would have been a life well lived!!!

Return to the Drums of Drums, PA on July 30, 2018 for post #4, Jacob’s Story.

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[1] History Channel, “This day in history”, www.history.com accessed 6/25/2018

[2] “Washington and the French and Indian War” http://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/french-indian-war  accessed 12/17/17.

[3] https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Otis accessed 6/8/2018

[4] https://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=Search&includedb=&lang=en&ti=&surname=Drum&stype=Exact&given=jacob&bplace=&byear=1730&brange=2&dplace=&dyear=1774&drange=2&mplace=&myear=&mrange=0&father=&mother=&spouse=&skipdb=&period=All&submit.x=Search accessed 6/6/2018

[5] Butler Township History, Butler Township website, http://www.butlertownship.org/about-us/history/Print.html accessed 6/14/2016

[6] Conventional Wisdom says that the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired on Lexington Green in Lexington, Massachusetts. However, there are some, myself included, who argue this important shot was not fired in Lexington but in Concord. The action taken in Lexington that April 19 morning was totally defensive. The British soldiers quickly pushed the colonists off the Green and continued their march to Concord. However, the colonists gathered at Concord bridge, after seeing what they thought was the soldiers burning their town, determined to stop things there. It was at Concord Bridge that they not only took a stand but fired on the soldiers in an offensive action, so it was there, at Concord Bridge, that the first shot of the revolution, the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”, was fired. In fact, it got its name from a poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837 called the “Concord Hymn” which begins, “By the rude bridge that arched the flood/Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled/Here once the embattled farmers stood/And fired the shot heard round the world.”

[7] Helman, Laura M., History and Genealogy of the Drum Family (Allentown, PA: Berkemeyer, Keck & Co., 1927)

[8] Stories from PA History, The American Revolution, 1765-1783: Chapter Four: Border Wars, Explorepahistory.com http://explorepahistory.com/story.php?storyId=1-9-11&chapter=4 accessed 5/13/2016

[9] Historical Markers, Fort Wyoming Historical Marker, Explorepahistory.com http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-178 accessed 5/13/2016

[10] http://home.ptd.net/~nikki/american.htm accessed 9/30/2005 (page no longer opens). Page 49 in History Magazine, Vol. IX, 1865 (NY: John G. Shea) records the individuals elected to this committee and includes “Philip Droom”. Another name listed in the defunct page's list is John Griesemer. It appears in the magazine list as “John Greesemer”.

[11] If Philip died in November of 1788 he would have missed voting in the first U.S. Presidential Election, and, therefore for George Washington, by approximately six weeks. The first national election held in Pennsylvania under the new constitution was held on January 7, 1789. Pennsylvania voters elected 10 representatives to the Electoral College, all of whom supported George Washington.

Into the Unknown

OK, this is Maine, but I couldn't get to England to take the proper shot!

 The ship’s log[1] recorded him as 36 years of age. Here he was, Philip Drum, standing on the deck of the ship Glasgow, gazing out across the seemingly endless Atlantic Ocean as the ship turned west and headed out to sea.  Sea Gulls screamed overhead. Sailors shouted to each other as they climbed the ship’s rigging, attending to the many ropes and sails. Children laughed and played at his feet as the ocean breeze blew through his hair. What thoughts must have flooded his mind; what worries, excitement, fear, joy? What does one think about when leaving his ancestral home to venture out into the unknown? He knew his destination was a city called Philadelphia in a place called Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania was in what he knew of then as “the New World.” Indeed, so it would be for him – A New World! He’d heard so many stories; stories of Indians and forests and animals never the like seen in Europe! What an adventure it would be, but what an adventure it already was!

He already had made his way from deep in the Palatine, his Bavarian home near the city of Zweibrucken in what is now called Germany, to a city that was more than 300 miles to the north in the Netherlands called Rotterdam. If traveling by bicycle on the roads of today, he could make it in less than a day and a half. Philip would have been amazed to know that in the world of the 21^st Century he could make the trip by automobile in less than five hours! In his day, it would have been almost impossible, even by horse and carriage, to make the trip by land. Roads of 1738 were poor and few, and even fewer stretched in the direction he needed to go, Zweibrucken to Rotterdam.

Ok, that's a model of a ship I made as a kid.
Give me a break, everything else is copywritten!

His journey to Rotterdam had been by boat via the Rhine. Now he was on another boat, this time a ship, crossing the ocean, an ocean voyage he knew was going to be difficult and full of danger. But he wasn’t concerned about himself. His wife and eight-year-old son were on-board as well. Philip knew none of them would ever return to his homeland; that this was a one-way only trip. He only hoped that they, all three, would make it. Philip really must have wanted to make this journey!

So why make it? Perhaps he was seeking a better life. After decades of war, poverty was taking hold everywhere. Governments found they needed to raise taxes to pay the costs of these wars. Many citizens had already left, died in the wars, or perished from disease which made the tax burdens of those remaining even worse. Colder than normal winters brought fuel shortages and more sickness. The winter of 1709, when Philip was just seven years old, was so cold birds were seen freezing in mid-flight[2] and livestock froze in their pens, barns, and coops. Cold such as this hurts not only birds and animals, but orchards and vineyards as well. Worse, temperatures stayed below freezing for 3 months. It was the worst winter in 500 years.[3] With peoples’ livelihoods damaged or destroyed by the weather, the government taxing them at exorbitant rates, and wars continuing to tear families apart, many were glad to seek a new beginning.

Colonization schemes began to spring up as shipping companies and governments realized there were profits to be had in emigration. That terrible year of 1709 sent many Germans, French, and Swiss headed to New York and North Carolina with English promises of land, privileges and a new beginning.  However, many never even got on a ship due to epidemics caused by overcrowding in “newlander” settlements while waiting for ships to carry them across the ocean. Many who did find a cramped space on a ship, died making the crossing. One scheme called the Mississippi Scheme of 1720, was a French backed project that recruited more than 4,000 people from southwest Germany, Alsace, and Switzerland. Of those, only a few hundred reached their destination, the coast of Louisiana. Another French project, called the Cayenne Project, came to an even worse conclusion in 1763 when almost all the emigrants died.        

However, enough good news reached the old world from the new, that many people began to consider making the new world voyage on their own. Beginning approximately 1717 and continuing into the 1750’s, this pattern became the method most Europeans chose for making a fresh start in a new world English colony. Solicited by shipping firm recruiters, sometimes alone, sometimes banding together in small groups from the same location, they made their way to Rotterdam. Ships bringing cargo from the colonies to Europe found profit in being filled with human cargo for the trip west once more.

The profits, of course, came from the fees the travelers paid. Fees were covered in any number of ways. Some people agreed to pay a specified fee upon a set date after their arrival in the new world. Others sold goods they brought with them to raise the fees. Some had money supplied to them by friends or relatives already in America and still others indentured themselves, using the money to pay the fare and planning on working it off as a servant once there.

Conditions being what they were in his homeland, Philip must have welcomed it when he first was approached with the suggestion of a new life in America, no matter how he determined to pay his family’s fare! What was not welcome were the physical dangers that lay before the little family at every turn as they made their way. So much was outside of Philip’s control.

As the travelers made their way up the Rhine, thieves and shysters did all they could to separate the travelers from their resources, if not their lives! If the traveler survived these dangers, he faced lack of provisions, uncooperative weather, the poor hygiene standards of the day, and just the rigors of travel, that weakened the traveler, making him susceptible to disease.

Clearly, it was essential to get to Rotterdam in as short a time as possible but even in that, the traveler had little to say or do about it! To fill their ships, shippers needed to get the travelers to Rotterdam. So, the shippers made agreements with river boatmen, promising the boatmen free shipping for their merchandise in return for transporting these emigrants; the more emigrants, the more merchandise shipped for free. Therefore, the boatmen jammed as many travelers on their boats as possible. Overloaded boats resulted in slow and dangerous progress, often with disastrous ends. In addition, usually by prearrangement with merchants along the way, the boatmen made stops, often too many, to “give” the passengers “a moment of relaxation” and/or to restock food supplies. However, these stops only increased the length of the trip while, at best, creating more money spending opportunities or, the more likely, to make contact with thieves.

Philip remembered how tired he had been when they had finally gotten to Rotterdam, and how angry! There they were, in Rotterdam harbor, they could SEE the city streets and buildings right in front of them, but because of some difficulties with Newlanders the previous year, 1737, a new law had been passed. No one was allowed off the boat! They all had to be taken to what was essentially a tent city, hastily set up outside of Kralingen. Philip was furious when he learned he and his family would have to stay there until their ship passage could be arranged. But what was there to be done? It was the law. Philip just hoped, and prayed, that his family could leave this place soon, before any of the three of them caught the sickness that was so common among the people there.

We know today the worry was worse than even Philip would have thought then. Spending weeks in such close quarters, already worn down from the trip up the Rhine, under low or non-existent hygienic conditions, one can easily see how the on-set of diseases might be exacerbated; diseases such as Dysentery, Cholera, or Typhoid Fever. Even a Common Cold might develop life threatening complications under conditions such as these.[4] All too many travelers never saw a ship before they died and those that did get onto a ship, once again found cramped quarters on overloaded ships, in some cases loaded 1/3 more than was considered normal.

The shipping firm Philip chose was the Hope firm. They were preparing eight ships for the 1738 westward crossing: Friendship, Winter Galley, Queen Elizabeth, Thistle, Princess Augusta, Oliver, Adventure, and Glasgow. As if to add insult upon insult, the travelers were told, “Break up your trunks! There will be no room on board for them! We’ll use the wood to make extra bunks!” “Where will we put our belongings, our clothing?” the people asked. “Store on-board what you can, sell the rest, burn it, do whatever you want but there is no room on board for people and goods too!”

However, the anger Philip felt from this injustice was soon replaced with joy. Philip and his family learned they had been assigned to a ship, the Glasgow. They would be among the first families to begin the journey across the ocean. Five of the Hope ships, now fitted with extra bunks to hold all the people, what belongings that could be stored now stored aboard as best as possible, the rest left behind, began the first leg of the journey to Goeree arriving June 22; Philip’s ship, the Glasgow, among them.

Then it was on to England for customs clearance as required by the Navigation Acts. Two ships, Queen Elizabeth and Winter Galley, headed toward Deal, desiring the northern route. Thistle, Oliver, and Glasgow, headed for the southern route which would bring them to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The English Channel is famous for its storms. Philip was able to be a witness in that regard as a storm blew up so violent it delayed the ships’ arrival at Cowes, keeping them at sea 3-5 weeks, a trip that often took only a matter of days.

The ship Oliver’s captain found the storm so violent, he returned to the Netherlands and resigned! Six passengers fled the ship there due to the death of two children. However, a new captain was found and, now that the storms had subsided, he brought the Oliver across to Cowes in just two days! The Oliver’s adventures were not yet done, however. After staying in Cowes for six weeks, partly for the safety of the ship and partly to give the passengers a respite, it started out again, this time for America, accompanied by the Thistle. Again, storms blew up forcing the ships to return to land, this time at Plymouth.

Winter Galley was the first ship of the Hope eight to reach Philadelphia, doing so on September 5^th. Then on September 9, the Glasgow arrived, accompanied by the snow Two Sisters. Given the accounts of later arrivals, one wonders what the Glasgow’s trip across the ocean must have been like. By the end of November, it was reported that over 2,000 people had died making the crossing. One report stated that only two of the fifteen ships to arrive by then arrived with the people “tolerably healthy and well.” These were probably the first two, Winter and Glasgow, which can be accounted for by their having made the trip in the shortest time with the least amount of waiting in the disease-ridden Kralingen camps.

Even still, it was not an easy voyage. Crossing the ocean was a long and dangerous trip, taking by some accounts as much as 10 weeks or more. Many on board became sick and some died. Captain Walter Goodman of the Robert and Alice, a ship from another firm that arrived in Philadelphia on September 11 reported that his journey began on July 4 sailing out of Dover, England and arrived “with crew and passengers in good health but on the way had many sick people, yet since not more than eighteen died, we lost by far the least of all ships arrived to date.”

Captain Goodman’s statement is interesting. He says he lost 18 passengers and that number was “by far the least of all ships arrived to date”. Since Glasgow arrived before the Robert and Alice, does Captain Goodman’s statement mean more than 18 Glasgow passengers died during the crossing? Just what was the condition of the members of our little family when they arrived in Philadelphia? We know they survived the trip across the ocean, at least we know father and son survived. Philip signed the oaths required of the immigrants at the end of their journey[5] and his son, Jacob, lives until he meets his tragic end in 1774.

If they, all three, were all well at the end of the journey, what must it have been like for them to see Philadelphia come into view at long last? Did the small family hug, cheer, weep, pray? Perhaps they did all that and more.

I'm sure this is how they felt.

We know that when these ships arrived they were greeted by crowds of people. News that the ships were on their way was known by the German community that was already in existence in Pennsylvania. It has been reported that “during the arrival season, Germans, some even from remote settlements, crowded the harbor to greet relatives, friends, or just people from their old home place, to hear news and, maybe, find mail.” So, if the Drums were well, that must have been, for them, some sight to see! Well or not, it must have given the little family, all of the passengers, much hope and joy!

Even the recently installed Pennsylvania governor, George Thomas, was there when the Glasgow arrived. He had decided to over-see the oath-swearing process to help him better understand the health issues his providence would now face with the arrival of these immigrants. The Glasgow arrived in Philadelphia carrying 349 men, women, and children. The Captain’s list of men aged 16 and over included 120 names of which 115 signed the oaths[6], perhaps the other five were too sick to leave the ship. Those male passengers 16 years of age or older who were able to do so, disembarked and paraded to the courthouse for the oath-taking ceremony.

Across the gangplank they marched and, finally, back onto solid ground. How strange Philip felt to be back on dry land, to not feel the rocking of the ship anymore. A quick glance back over his shoulder to find his wife and child, and then on with the rest, he went, marching, like soldiers, through the cobblestone streets of Philadelphia to the Court House. There, the ceremony began. After some speeches welcoming them to Pennsylvania and cautioning them to abide by the laws of England, each man was called forward to take quill pen in hand and sign his name or make his mark upon two oaths; an oath of allegiance[7] to the King of England and an oath of abjuration[8]. Philip was proud that he was able to write his name, not just make an “x” as was done by so many of the others.

It is interesting to note that when Philip signed his name to the two oaths, it appeared to the transcriber to be spelled “Phillips”. His last name appeared to be written “Drum” but included a diacritical mark above the “u”[9]. Although facsimiles of these documents do exist, the information generally available concerning these lists are the lists that have been transcribed from the originals. Reviewing those alone, we cannot be sure if the double “L” and/or the “S” in “Phillips” was as he intended or if it was a transcriber’s error. However, in the new world perhaps the name should be new too, so from then on it would be “Philip Drum”, well, most of the time, as we shall see in later posts.

The oaths he signed read as follows:

Oath of Allegiance

We Subscribers Natives and late Inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and places adjacent, having transported our selves (sic) and families into the Province of Pennsylvania, a Colony Subject to the Crown of Great Britain, in hopes and expectation of finding a retreat and peaceable Settlement therein DO solemnly promise and engage that we will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to his present Majesty King George the Second and his Successon (sic) Kings of Great Britain and will demean our selves (sic) peaceably to all his Majesties’ Subjects, and Strictly observe and conform to the Laws of England and of this Province to the utmost of our power and best of our understanding.

Oath of Abjuration[10]

At the Court House of Philadelphia September 9^th, 1738 Present the Honorable George Thomas Esqr. Lieutenant Governor Thomas Goryus Esqr. The palatines whose names are underwritten imported in the ship Glasgow Walter Sterling Comr. And the Snow Two Sisters James Cranshall Comr. But both last from Cows (sic) in England do this Day [repudiate] and [renounce] the Oaths to the Government viz+     

The signing of these oaths was not to be taken lightly. These were proud people. They were making a promise and for these people, a promise was meant to be kept. Imagine how Philip must have felt! He’d not only left his homeland to venture into this new world, he now was renouncing any allegiance he may have yet harbored in his heart for his homeland. He was making a full and complete break. It was certainly an act that was not, could not be, and cannot be, taken lightly.

Return to Drums of Drums, PA on August 16, 2018 for the next post, One life well lived, one life cut short.

Note: Unless otherwise marked, this post’s content is based on an article entitled “The Emigration of 1738 – Year of the Destroying Angels” by Klaus Wust (1986: Society for the History of the Germans in Maryland).

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[1] Glasgow Ship’s Log, http://www.immigrantships.net/v2/1700v2/glasgow17380909.html accessed 9/30/2005

[2] Hawk, Rev. James R., They Came from Germany, Aboard the Thistle (2016: Lulu Publishing)

[3] Arreseigor, Juan Jose’ Sanchez, “Winter is Coming: Europe’s Deep Freeze of 1709”, National Geographic History Magazine, Jan/Feb 2017

[4] Infectious Disease – Britannica.com https://www.britannica.com/science/infectious-disease/Population-density  accessed 5/25/2018.

[5] Glasgow Ship’s Log

[6] Glasgow Ship’s Log

[7] An Oath of Allegiance is a statement swearing loyalty to an individual, group, government, or cause.

[8] An Oath of Abjuration is a statement that repudiates any previously taken oaths, or personal feelings, of loyalty to an individual, group, government, or cause.

[9] Glasgow Ship’s Log

[10] The transcriber of the Oath of Abjuration in the cited source was unable to read the words that appeared in the original at the points where the words in parentheses appear here, so I have inserted my best guesses given the oath’s intent. I believe the intent of the use of “viz+” at the end is to mean “all former governments.”