Europeans who made the voyage to America faced a difficult journey of several months.
Estate inventories give us a glance into the home life of Colonial Americans.
Early European settlers in the American colonies were mostly farmers and craftsmen. They had to work hard to provide daily neccesities for themselves.
Johann Michael Brandstetter was born on May 16,1693 in Aichau-Ansbach, Bayern, Germany and baptized the same day. His parents were Andreas Sigismund Brandstetter and Appolonia Egle Dosenbau. His Godfather was Michael Weidner who was a farmer from Ober Schönbrun.
He married Anna Maria Katherina Gampfer. Anna Maria was born September 11, 1697 in Gersbach, Ansbach, Bayern. Her parents were Johannes Gampher and Anna Maria Margaretha Stegner.
Their children were born in Fröschen, Sudwestpfalz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Anna Elizabeth Brandstetter Daude was born October 28, 1718. Johann Andreas Brandstetter was born July 15, 1721. Anna Barbara Brandstetter Krieger was born March 21/1723. Johann Friedrich Brandstetter was born November 23, 1724. Johann Adam Brandstetter was born March 4, 1725/6.
Their son, grenadier, Johann Frederich Brandstetter, came to America as did his daughters Anna Elizabeth Brandstetter Daude , and Anna Barbara Brandstetter Kreiger who married Jacob Kreiger.
Johann Friedrich and Anna Barbara (Mag) Brandstetter crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Pennsylvania with their children aboard the ship Sarah on September 20, 1764. Legend has it that they committed their two eldest sons (Johann Heinrich, 14and
Georg Andreas, 12) into five years of indentured servitude to pay for the trip. The family settled in Wythe County, Virginia.
Anna Elizabeth married Johann Henrich after she became pregnant and the princely council of Hesse-Hanau-Lichtenberg of Buchweiler forced them to marry on May 8, 1742. They married at the Thaleischweiler-Fröschen church. They left for American in 1765.
An indenture is a legal contract for labor or land. Two copies on the same sheet were separated with a jagged edge so that the two parts could be refitted to confirm authenticity. An indentured servant worked without wages for a specified time to pay a debt and was bound to the employer. In the 17th century, nearly two-thirds of settlers came as indentured servants to pay for their passage.
Ansbach or Anspach is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is 25 miles southwest of Nuremberg and 90 miles north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the Main.
Ansbach
17th and 18th century Germans often gave children two names at baptism. The first was a saint's name. The second a secular name which is what the child was called. The saint's name was usually given to all the children of that family of the same gender. Johannes was rarely a saint's name, but Johann was.
A grenadier in the 17th century was specialized soldier who threw grenades and led assault operations. They were chosen from the strongest and largest soldiers.
The Palatinate is a region in south-western Germany. Many thousands of Palatine immigrants were driven out of Germany by war, famine, despotic rule and disease. They were attracted to Pennsylvania by the first settlers who sent back favorable reports.
It was common for bequests to include wearing apparel.
