The-Lape-Immigration

The Lape Immigration

(Löwe, Löeb, Loewe, Laap, Leep, Leap, Levie, Loup, Loep, Lape)

The 275 Year History Of The Lape Family In America

Prior to the Reformation, Germany would compare favorably with other European countries for the comfort and intelligence of its inhabitants, and for material prosperity. The commoner was on the whole moderately intellectual, cozy, and obtained in Protestant districts, at least, a fairly good education in schooling and religion. During this period Martin Luther wrote Ninety-Five Theses, originally written in Latin. Johann Tetzel, a vendor of indulgences, provoked Luther to wrath because he was telling the people that for the coins dropped into the Church coffers there was pardon for sins and the release of beloved souls from Purgatory. Tetzel had the approval of the Church of Rome for his activities in Germany. The reason for Rome pushing the sales of indulgences was to garner money to finance and pay off debts for the building of the St. Peter's project in Rome. They were also a source of revenue for the Church and University in Wittenberg. Luther decided enough was enough. He challenged the Church powers to a debate. His position was, "Indulgences do not forgive sins! They bring a false peace to man's conscience!" On October 31, 1517 Luther posted his challenge to a debate on the door of The Castle Church in Wittenberg. Luther was confident that he would have papal support when he had exposed the evils of the traffic of indulgences. Thus the Reformation fires were kindled.

But the Thirty Years’ War destroyed all of Germany's prosperity, beginning in the early l600’s, and it took two centuries to bring the village population to the state of civilization they had already reached at the beginning. It was upon the commoners where the calamity of war fell the heaviest. Villages were laid to waste, cattle destroyed and cultivated land went to waste. When a city was besieged the neighboring country was a first ravaged, fugitives fled within its walls, then famine and pestilence set in. Making war became a career; the only pay soldiers received was what they could pillage; they cared not on which side they were engaged. Whatever the cause of the war, or nations engaged in it, the battleground was always more or less in Germany. Times were very burdensome.

The "Palatines" is the name given to a group of commoners who hailed from the Palatinate, a group of districts spread out along the Rhine River in Western Germany. This was some of the richest farmland in Europe, and bad weather was a terrible hardship for these simple farmers. Someone said that the winter of the 1708 was so cold in Germany that sparrows dropped from the sky, frozen to death. People and cattle were found in the same circumstance. The orchards and vineyards were also destroyed. The oldest members of one parish said they could not remember a colder winter, and they had lived through eighty winters. The rivers froze, and with them, the mills. So corn did not germinate, and people starved. Add to that the invading French and Swedes, who, when they weren’t trying to kill each other, were only too glad to sack and burn the little villages along the way. War costs money, of course, and the local princes made sure the commoners paid for it. The average Palatine farmer was saddled with a crippling tax burden.

When a book arrived from England promising milk and honey in America, it quickly caught everybody’s attention. This was the "Golden Book," called so due to the golden lettering in the first pages, circulated by the government of Queen Anne of England. Queen Anne’s ministers were in need of competitive labor. The Royal Navy needed naval stores, principally tar, which was made from pine pitch. Since the colony of New York had plenty of pine trees, and Germany had plenty of poor, freezing farmers in need of a break, a happy bargain was struck. If one wanted to emigrate to the New World, Queen Anne would pay the passage. One contracted to work for a certain period of time to pay off the debt. This was called indentured servitude, and it was in this state that the first Löwe family member arrived in America. Several families under pastor Joshua von Kocherthal, took their departure from the Palatinate down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, Holland, and then to England, the first ones reaching London in March 1708. In England they experienced the horrors of camps, where disease and death rapidly diminished the numbers of these poor people. They applied to Queen Anne for free passage to America which was granted, after much delay, and they were sent with Lord Lovelace who had been appointed Governor of New York. The authorities purposed:

1) to use them to protect the frontiers from Indians.

2) to take from Norway the trade in tar, turpentine, and naval stores, by means of the labor of these people.

And, many of the Palatines would leave Germany as once did the Children of Israel, in search of 'The Promised Land.' Before leaving England they were naturalized on August 25, 1708. Pastor Kocherthal was granted twenty pounds sterling and 500 acres of land, and provision was also made for support of the others by gifts of land, seeds, agricultural tools, and furniture, with promise of support for a year after settling there. This small band, on the 29th of June 1709, was settled upon Quasek Creek in Newburgh on the Hudson River.

Kocherthal almost immediately returned to England, in the summer of 1709, to secure better provision for the support of his company. He obtained an audience with the Queen, and, with her encouragement, went to Germany and soon returned with 3,000 of his countrymen. This was a larger number than was expected, but it was finally decided to undertake the production of tar and turpentine on an extensive scale in America by means of these emigrants.

Meanwhile, Germans kept coming via the Netherlands from the Palatinate to England, so many that public aid and charity could scarcely keep them from starving, since most of them had no means of helping themselves. Some were sent home, some went to Ireland and located permanently, and, a band of about 3,000 were chosen to go to America with Governor Hunter. This became known as the second emigration. Ten-twelve boats had started, but some were lost, with all passengers; and sickness and disease cost hundreds of lives on the voyage.

A total of 3,200 Palatine Germans left England in the spring of 1710 on small ships. The "Lion of Leith" was the first to arrive on June 13, 1710. It was followed the next day by the "Lowestoffe," carrying the British magistrate, Governor Hunter. On July 7, the frigate "Herbert" wrecked off Block Island. Seven more ships arrived prior to July 10. They were the "Fame," "Mary," "Hartwell," "Baltimore," "James and Elizabeth," "Sarah," and the frigate, "Tower." The "Midford" arrived after July 12 and the "Berkley Castle" arrived on August 12, 1710.

Food shortages and inadequate facilities led to the fleet being ravaged by the highly "ship's fever", a form of typhus. Sickness and disease caused the death of 470 passengers along the way. It was a rough voyage, the boats being tossed about on the angry waves of the Atlantic for many weeks, as strong winds separated and scattered the ships in this little fleet. Some boats took as long as six months to make the passage, resulting in extreme hardship. 470 members lost there lives to disease on the trip, with 250 more lives lost after their arrival in New York in June & July, 1710. Due to the "ship's fever" the Palatine Germans were not allowed entry into the city of New York. Instead they were ordered to the camps at Nutten Island where they stayed until the quarantine was lifted. At Nutten Island, to help "rid the public of the expense of orphan children and big families of young'uns", many of the children were petitioned for by Doctor Staats and Mr. Van Dam in an apprenticing program. Many of the Palatine Germans were eventually sent to East Kamp, near Germantown, NY, and placed in the Queensbury settlement.

Most people did not use surnames before the 17th Century unless they were of nobility. Folks were referred to by where they lived, or by whose child they were. It was enough in most communities to say "Jacob from Schermerhorn," or "Barent, Peter's son." Then, as populations grew, it became necessary to be more specific. So families took the name of the men, the heads of the households at that time, so Jacob became Jacob Schermerhorn, and Barent became Barent Peterse, or Peterson.

So where does the name Löwe come from? Surnames developed from four general sources: a man's occupation; where he lived; his father's name; or from a personal characteristic. The translation of Löwe is "lion" or "Leo". Well, once upon a time one of our male ancestors must have dealt in lion pelts- hunting lions, skinning them and tanning their hides. When the time came to take a surname, the "Lion Skinner" or "Lion Hunter" became "Löwe." But, were there any lions in early Germany? Perhaps the first Löwe was as ferocious as a lion in battle. Or, in all fairness, since many German lodges display a lion placard, maybe the first members of the Löwe family were boarding house overseers, poets or astronomers.

There is still another mystery, though, the Lape name. It isn’t known why the name Löwe was changed to Lape. It shows up as a misspelling at first. Names like Löwe, Löeb, Loewe, Leap, Leep, Laap and Levie appear, but then, before the death of Andries Löwe, the Lape name became more or less a permanent fixture. Conceivably the name was anglicized to meet the articulation requirements of the New World.

It is imperative to here note that at least two Lape families settled in America, one family in New York State and one family in Pennsylvania. Nearly every "Löwe", "Lape", or other variation, born in New York State may be traced to the German immigrant ancestor's son, Andries Löwe, while the Lape family of Pennsylvania can be traced to Michael Lape, born on October 12, 1796. No connection between the two families has yet been discovered.

Henry Hudson, on September 17, 1609 came ashore to visit and eat with the Indians at about the place where the Kinderhook Creek runs into the Hudson River. By 1612 a lively trade was established with the Indians, and that continued on a regular basis. The Dutch settlers in the region were able to maintain peace between the Mohawks and the Mohicans for 20 years after Hudson's first voyage. Settlement in Columbia County began soon after the establishment of Fort Nassau by the Dutch in 1614. The Village of Valatie claims establishment in 1618, though this settlement was probably not continuous. Fort Orange and New Amsterdam were established in 1624. Traders and travelers between these points on the Hudson River frequently stopped along the shores of Columbia. Small settlements sprang up to provide aid and goods to these ships.

The regions around Claverack, NY, were purchased from the Indians in 1649, and Kinderhook, NY, in 1667. Typically, settlement occurred earlier than the purchase, and the granting of the Patents after the purchase. These two areas grew with primarily Dutch settlers and a few other Europeans with them, notably German and English. In 1664, the English took over New Netherland and renamed it the Province of New York. New Amsterdam was renamed New York and Fort Orange was renamed Albany. With this change came many more English settlers to provide the government and to settle the land.

It is not yet known the names of the first Löwe family members to set foot in New York Colony, but since we know they were Palatine German, they probably arrived 1709-1725, during one of the many Palatine immigrations to New York or to Philadelphia. The Lape or Löwe family name, although resemblance, does not appear in the SIMMENDINGER REGISTER, the KOCHERTHAL PARTY, the Board of Trade List of First Party of Palatines in London, the EMBARKATION LISTS FROM HOLLAND, the THIRD PARTY SAILING, the FOURTH PARTY SAILING, the FIFTH PARTY SAILING (although Lab, Georg & vrouw, 2 ch may be the possible LAPE connection), the SIXTH PARTY SAILING, the NEW YORK SUBSISTENCE LIST, the PALATINES WHO MOVED TO THE TULPEHOCKEN VALLEY IN PENNSYLVANIA, or the PETITION LIST OF PALATINES IN NORTH CAROLINA.

It is known that a Johann Wilhelm Löwen of Grossmeischeiter parish, Germany, requested permission to emigrate in 1709, according to File #70-5-36 in the Furstl Wied Archive.

"Very, very few families seem to have gone first to Pennsylvania and then to New York. There were one or two, but I can't bring them to mind right now without lots of digging. The probability is that Andreas came direct to colonial New York as a later arrival, as did so many others. No lists were kept of these arriving New York Germans, as there was no legal reason to do so as there was in Philadelphia." (Hank Jones) That George Leap (Lab), Johan Conrad Leap, or Johann Wilhelm Löwen were of the original immigrants of the Lape family can only be inferred. Other possible Lape immigrants may be included in the Embarkation Lists to England. The Löwe family arrived in America between 1709-1725, Andries Löwe being the first documented Lape family member to live in America.

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