The South Carolina German Migrations
An old abandoned house in Londonderry, South Carolina. Compliments of Pinterest.com
During the mid-1700s, millions of Germans from the Lowlands migrated to America. These people essentially came from the North Rhine area and include (today) northern states of (Bundesländer): Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen, North-Rhine-Westphalia, Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg. A common port of entry in the US was the Philadelphia map.
An examination of all of the early counties in Pennsylvania reveals individual families as well as religious congregations seeking free land in America. The indexes reveal billions of German names starting about 1690. Many settled in Pennsylvania while others trekked southwestward into (today’s) North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Indiana. A popular settlement during the mid-1700s was the State of Franklin, formed in 1784, which embraced Eastern Tennessee counties of Blount, Caswell, Greene, Spencer, Sevier, Sullivan, Washington, and Wayne.
Interestingly, land that was once along the North Carolina border became part of Franklin as it voted to give Congress some 29,000,000 acres. this State. In April 1784, the state of North Carolina voted to give Congress the 29,000,000 acres to help relieve debt. Presumably, this included (later formed) Jonesborough, Tennessee.
I recently discovered that one of my ancestors who received bounty lands in Wilkes County, Georgia, wrote in his Revolutionary War Pension that “he was born in North Carolina” in that area which became the State of Franklin. Further research included research in the North Carolina border counties as well as those in East Tennessee. He was born ca 1760/1765 which meant that his parents were born ca 1730 and traveled the pioneer trail through the Blue Ridge Mountains, Cumberland Mountains and plateau, and the Appalachian ridge and valleys. For anyone who has visited Cumberland Gap and the villages around Gatlinburg, this is truly a beautiful place. Notable is Cherokee, North Carolina, which was but one of many Cherokee villages spread throughout these mountains. As more immigrants poured into the area, the State of Franklin expanded.
The interesting part of searching for German ancestors is the variations in the names after they were anglicized. Hence, the necessity of observing and considering all possible name variations. Once the German name has been zeroed in on, one needs to discover “where” in the Lowlands.
Some that I found in Sullivan County, Tennessee are Netherland, Loudermilk, Bachman, Buckellen, Baugh, Beachboard, Torbitt, Pemberton, etc. I am in the process of adding old wills to the Tennessee section of Georgia Pioneers. (Lots of records here; this will be slow). To date, Lincoln, Greene, and Franklin Counties TN have been added.
German settlers in Londonderry, South Carolina
Thousands of Germans migrated to Pennsylvania and South Carolina during the 1700s. In April 1764, Germans from the Palatinate arrived in Charlestown, South Carolina “and presented a letter from the Lords Commissioners for Trade and Plantations to Governor Boone, acquainting him that his Majesty had been pleased to take the poor Palatines under his royal care and protection, and as many of them were versed in the culture of silks and vines, had ordered that a settlement be provided for them in Carolina. That they might be settled in a body, one of the two townships, called Londonderry, was allotted for them, and divided most equitably into small tracts, for the accommodation of each family. Captain Calhoun, with a detachment of the rangers, had orders to meet them by the way and conduct them to the place where their town was to be built, and all possible assistance was given towards promoting their speedy and comfortable settlement.”
Londonderry was located in Spartanburg County between the Broad and Saluda Rivers.
Source: A Historical Account Of The Rise And Progress Of The Colonies Of South Carolina and Georgia, Volume 1, by Alexander Hewatt; Charleston Records