A Name in a Hundred: Hinneschied/Hendershot Geneology
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MEMORYBYTES Originally published in Canadian Genealogist Volume 4, Number 3. November 1982 Agincourt, Ontario: Generation Press A Name in a Hundred Hinneschied/Hendershot: a Palatine family of the great"Auswanderung " John E. Ruch 1982 Originally published in Canadian Genealogist Volume 4, Number 3. November 1982 Agincourt, Ontario: Generation Press U P D A T E D B Y L E N H ENDERSHOTT , J AN 2 0 2 1 Permission given by author, John E. Ruch, Ontario, Canada, to reproduce this article i.e., the state must adopt the religion of its sovereign. More The Palatinate & One German Family than one faith could survive in that state only if the ruler were The ancestors of the Hendershot family left Germany in tolerant. The intolerant were oppressive and caused great 1709 in the great Palatine Auswan-derung (emigration). hardships for subjects who clung to a non-official faith. Descendants of the thousands of Germans who emigrated then are innumerable now. So genealogies of ‘Palatines’ are found The basic absurdity of this ruling became clear in many states frequently in North American publications on ancestry and during the next half-century. In the Palatinate there were four local history. However, such writings are usually sketchy in successive changes of state religion as four different rulers two areas: in detailed history of the Palatinate, and in held sway 1559-1610, alternatively Calvinist (Reformed) and background information on the immigrants. The aim of the Lutheran (Evangelical). Court cliques surrounding these present article is to help researchers understand the situation various rulers were mutually hostile. in Germany just prior to the huge exodus. Fortunately, a good deal has recently been discovered about the Palatine origin of the Hendershots which can serve as an example of a particular family and its progress. Thirty Years War 1613-1648 & its Consequences No part of Germany suffered more in the 17th century At the outset, it must be stressed that in the 18th century than the Palatinate.4 There was seldom a decade without the term ‘Palatine’ was very loosely used. Any Germanic warfare. This began in 1618 when the already explosive refugee or migrant from 1709 on could be called by that name. rivalries and dynastic squabbles among German states were The first group of them which received much publicity detonated by an act of Count Palatine Friedrich V. The largely actually were Palatines, and this created the impression that all Protestant state of Bohemia elected this Friedrich as their own Germanic travelers were also Palatines. Studies of the king. He accepted the office. The Holy Roman Emperor immediate origins of the 1709 migrants reveal that they came considered this kingdom to be the prerogative of his family. from well over a dozen different provinces and states, includ- Catholic states rallied behind him, but most Protestant states ing Switzerland and Alsace. Further, it should be noted that remained neutral. The Palatine prince's army was defeated many of those who did emigrate from the Palatinate descended almost at once, and the vengeance of the victor was visited from families which had earlier migrated into that province upon Friedrich, his country, and his people. His own family, from elsewhere in Germany. Such was the case of the 1 Wittelsbachs of the senior line, was degraded and exiled. Hendershots. The Palatinate was invaded, ravaged, and its people were treated as hostages. The Palatinate and its History The war did not stop there. State after state joined in a general mêlée. For the next three decades a succession of The history of the Palatinate is eventful, and especially armies passed through the Palatinate. All were in some degree rich in incidents in mediaeval and modern times. Most hunters oppressive, even the ‘friendly’ liberating forces. After the of Palatine ancestors are, however, particularly interested in Spaniards came the English, then the Swedes, then the French, the quarter century 1685-1710, the period which saw their and later still, the Germans. Its darkest hour was in 1635-1636 forebears come of age, marry and depart for America. But a when wandering bands of ruthless, leaderless troops rampaged knowledge of the preceding years of the 17th century helps to blindly through the province terrorizing, looting and give one a better perspective and a fuller picture of life there. destroying senselessly. Three years later, in a brief four-month Marguerite Dow has already given a good brief outline of period the Palatinate changed hands three times: von Weimar's German history in the Canadian Genealogist.2.Let us now take army occupied it, was chased out by the Bavarian army, which a closer view of what was happening to this province and its in turn was expelled when Weimar returned accompanied by inhabitants in the 1600s. French troops. Such incidents represent the unsettled conditions of the time at their worst. The Palatinate (die Pfalz) was an accumulation of lands under the sovereignty of the Hereditary Count Palatine (der The province experienced a bright period when the war Erbpfalzgraf). It consisted of two main parts: the Lower or ended. Karl Ludwig, son of the deposed Elector Palatine Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz) overlapping both banks of the 5 Friedrich V., returned to rule from 1648 to 1680. If any one Rhine River and focused on Speyer for the west bank, on Palatine living in that troubled century deserves to be Heidelberg for the east; and secondly the Upper Palatinate remembered, it is he. Even before his return he began to gather (Oberpfalz) north of the Danube near Regensburg. In the early foreign support and aid for his ravaged territory. Single- 17th century the Duke of Bavaria seized the latter part, and mindedly throughout his life he promoted the restoration of its retained most of it thereafter. So by the early 18th century the devastated areas, encouraging immigration, reconstruction and ‘Palatinate’ was reduced considerably in size, and nearly all 3 new development. All nationalities and religions were ‘real’ Palatines were emigrants from the Rhine area. The welcomed and tolerated–an unique circumstance in problem of a state religion had supposedly been settled by an contemporary Germany. His lands made a remarkable agreement of 1555 which specified “cujus regno, ejus religio”, recovery in many areas. However, some parts of it were still A Name in a Hundred Page 2 held by foreign powers, other lords, and some prince- Dukes of Bavaria since 1180. The senior branch later acquired bishops—these were much less well off. also the influential rank of Imperial Elector (Kurfürst) and besides enjoyed vice-regal status in the Holy Roman Empire, Karl Ludwig tried to preserve peace valiantly, but he in precedence being second only to the emperor himself. As was brought into conflict by his strenuous efforts with regard descendant lines multiplied, problems of inheritance and to neighboring powers such as Franconia, Swabia and Worms. succession became ever more complicated. Counts Palatine In 665 Mainz and Lor-raine united to attack him. He 1559 to 1685 were of the "Simmern" line, which tended to be beat Lorraine but the contest with the former was a long- of the Reformed religion. Upon extinction of this branch, the protracted one. In 1676 the Emperor intervened and the succession should have gone, by an old agreement, to one of problem was submitted to arbitration, a process that lasted the "Zweibrucken" lines. The latter disputed among forty years. In its central location between France and other themselves, and the problem was resolved by the Imperial German states, the Palatinate was too important strategically council which chose the Catholic branch of "Neuburg- to be left alone, even when its ruler declared it neutral. Most Sulzbach" by a majority decision. This had unhappy armies had extorted ‘protection’ money from Palatine consequences for the Palatinate. The new rulers were already settlements, but when the French invaded in 1672 they had long in possession of the Catholic duchies of Jülich and Berg, orders from Louis XIV to "burn the Palatinate". It was done which they much preferred to the less fortunate Pfalz. They under the pretext of punishment for maintaining neutrality, but remained in the north, and governed the latter by regents— it was designed to leave the area as a worthless objective for four in ten years scarcely made for continuity of other armies. In quick succession three dozen communities administration. were set to the torch, including the cathedral and city of Speyer. Again in 1678 the whole Rhine valley along both There did, however, begin a strong Catholic influence sides from Trier on the Mosel, south to the Ortenau with the succession of Philip Wilhelm (1685-1690). His son in Baden was treated to the same sort of destruction. Johann Wilhelm (1690-1716) left most of the direction of affairs in the hands of his Jesuit advisers. Militant religious At this point there are two important observations to be orders were encouraged to immigrate. French invaders made for the genealogist. First, 1618 to 1648 saw many supported the zealots and gave them the military force they foreign and non-Palatine German armies quartered in needed to oppose the large Protestant majority of the Palatinate for varying lengths of time. On retreating these the Palatinate. The effect was slowly to squeeze the multitudes left many of their members behind, men who had Protestants out of their religious buildings and properties, out deserted or simply decided to settle here. They helped to fill of all official posts, and out of their other civil rights. It is the gap caused by tens of thousands of missing local people— ironic that in the early 1690s, the Palatine Catholic leaders natives who had been killed, died of plague, or simply fled to took the side of the French enemy to enforce religious more peaceful states.