The First Germans in America: With a Biographical Directory of New York Germans

Heritage Books. New. 1992. Paperback. The first permanent German settlement in America was at Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1683. But most people do not realize that Germans first arrived in America in 1608, settling at Jamestown, Virginia, and, within a few years, Germans began joining the Dutch settlement of New Netherland (later New York) and other colonies. These early settlers did not come as a group of families (as was the case with the Germantown settlement), nor were they sponsored by an organization. For this work, Dr. Tolzmann chose to collect, into one volume, material originally published in the early 1900’s which identifies and provides information on these pre 1683 German settlers. Chapter 1 by Otto Lohr (1912) identifies who the first Germans were in all the colonies and refers to the most prominent individuals. Chapter 2 by Herman Schuricht (1898) provides detail on the first Germans in Virginia--who they were and their trades. Chapter 3 by John O. Evjen (1916) reveals that close to half the population of the New York settlement was German; this chapter includes a biographical directory of New York settlers, giving the names and background of a substantial number of them. The editor provides an introduction to this material and an index of names. .