They All Chose Pennsylvania
The vast majority of our ancestors sailed directly from Europe to New Sweden or Pennsylvania colony through the Port of Philadelphia, drawn by promises of land ownership, religious freedom, and minimal taxation in times of peace. Pennsylvania stood as a beacon of opportunity and tolerance in colonial America. However, those few ancestors who first arrived at other ports faced harsh realities that would soon drive them to seek better lives elsewhere.
The New England settlements operated as Puritan autocracies, where religious dissenters faced persecution and both Indigenous peoples and accused “witches” were killed without mercy. The struggling New Amsterdam colony in New York suffered from chronic mismanagement and financial ruin, with both Dutch Republic and English leaders deceiving prospective settlers with false promises. These authorities permitted slavery and participated in the brutal treatment of Indigenous populations. Meanwhile, the Anglican Virginia colonies imposed strict religious oppression while struggling with poor administration and severe labor shortages.
Fortunately, our colonial forebears recognized these dire conditions and departed for Pennsylvania’s more welcoming territory as soon as circumstances allowed. What follows chronicles the journeys of those few non-Philadelphia ancestors who migrated from oppressive colonies to the promising lands of Pennsylvania.
The Great Escape: Early Departures from New England and New York
In the mid-17th century, the first wave of our ancestors began their exodus from the harsh realities of northern colonies. Around 1650, Isaac Onge and Mary Underwood, along with Peter and Alice Wright, fled Massachusetts for the relative safety of New Jersey. Their timing proved prescient, as conditions in the Puritan strongholds only worsened in subsequent decades.
Massachusetts Bay and Connecticut colonies suffered with Harsh Climate and Difficult Environment, Religious Intolerance and Dissent, Native American Conflict, Economic Struggles and Inequality, Political Tensions and Autonomy Loss, Witchcraft Hysteria and Social Breakdown, numerous Women’s Restrictions and Slavery and Indentured Servitude.
Before 1679, William Broadwell and Mary Morse followed the same path from Massachusetts to New Jersey, seeking refuge from religious persecution. Around the same time, Samuel Andrews and Mary Wright escaped New York’s failing and tyrannical Dutch administration—especially under Kieft and Stuyvesant—for New Jersey’s more stable environment. Ten years later, a notable group including Joris Jansen Van Horne and Maria Rutgers, Adriaan Pietersz Kinne, and Edward Andrews all departed New York for New Jersey, part of a growing stream of settlers abandoning the mismanaged colony.
The Continuing Exodus: Eighteenth Century Migrations to New Jersey
The early 1700s witnessed an acceleration of families leaving New York for New Jersey’s more favorable conditions. Around 1705, David Cossart and Christina Joris Van Horne, Jacob Adrianse Kinne, and Abel Smith with Catherine Wybrant all made this transition. Five years later, Albert Opdycke, Sarah Bull, and Jeremiah Kluge joined this migration pattern. New Netherlands with its Authoritarian Rule would have Political Discontent, Labor shortage, Conflict with Native Americans and Economic Struggles and towns with muddy streets and Fires, floods, and poor sanitation.
The 1720s brought another wave, including Annetje Smith, Henry Lacy with Anna Moorehouse, all seeking better opportunities in New Jersey. Ten years later, the migration continued with Esther Money Fleming, Cynthee Miller Farrar, Henry and Mary Money, and David Cossart relocating from New York to New Jersey. Simultaneously, Connecticut contributed to this movement as Edward Lacey and Sara Jackson, along with Jonathan Moorehouse, left around 1740 for New Jersey’s more promising environment.
That same decade saw James Miller and George Serven completing their own journeys from New York to New Jersey. But Jersey had its issues just the same. Colonial Jersey was rife with Political Instability and Fragmented Governance, Native American Conflicts, Economic Hardships, Labor Shortages and Slavery, Poor Infrastructure and Public Health and Isolation.
Southern Sojourns: From Chesapeake Struggles to Pennsylvania Promise
While most ancestors fled from the north, several families endured the oppressive conditions of southern colonies before ultimately reaching Pennsylvania. Colonial Maryland and Virginia was suffering with Economic Instability, Growing Class Inequality, Shift from Indentured Servitude to Slavery with Harsh Conditions for Enslaved, Disease and Poor Living Conditions, common Conflict with Native Americans, Weak Infrastructure and Rural Isolation with Limited Rights for Women.
Around 1680, Sylvester and Anna Garland, along with their children including daughter Suit Garland, made a circuitous journey from Delaware to Pennsylvania via New York, demonstrating the complex routes families took to escape unfavorable circumstances.
Three decades later, James Anderson embarked on an even more remarkable journey, leaving Virginia in 1712 for Pennsylvania via Delaware and New York, accompanied by his children including ancestors John and James Jr., who had been born during their temporary stay in New York. At the turn of the century, George Wilson migrated from Maryland to Pennsylvania around 1720, while Casper Hensel made the transition from Virginia to Pennsylvania in 1758, representing the final wave of southern emigrants among our ancestors.
Pennsylvania wasn’t perfect though. Colonists in Philadelphia faced a range of struggles as they established and expanded the city, which included Disease and poor Public Health, Food and labor Shortages, Religious and Cultural Conflicts, Economic Hardship and slow Urban Development. Even the Philadelphia port immigrants didn’t stay in the city, they settled west. Therefore, our ancestors relocated to central Pennsylvania, allowing for the best freedoms and the best chance for success.
The Tulpehocken Settlement: A German Haven in Pennsylvania
1709-1710 saw an influx of Palatine to New York. But New York was any different that New Amsterdam had been, and it was becoming worse. The Palatine Germans would leave New York within a decade for several interconnected reasons, mostly stemming from broken promises, harsh conditions, and the pursuit of better land and freedom. They endured manipulation by British Crown, Indentured Servitude Conditions, Harsh Living Conditions, Land Disputes and Legal Uncertainty, Cultural and Religious Friction and Resentment Toward Colonial Authorities.
Between 1723 and 1725, Pennsylvania witnessed one of the most significant single migrations in our family history as dozens of German families established themselves in the Tulpehocken region. This remarkable settlement included the Walborn families—Adam, Andres, Herman, and Christian Herman—who helped establish what would become a thriving German community.
The Rieth family, including Caspar, Michael with his wife Barbara and daughter Elizabeth, Peter with son Jacob, J. Lenhart, Nicholas, and Georg, contributed substantially to this migration. The Emmerich family—J. Michael with wife Elizabeth and son Jacob—joined this movement, as did the extensive Schaeffer clan: Friedrich with wife Rosa, Nicolaus, Jacob, Adam, Claus, and Peter. The Feg family was represented by Peter with wife Maria and daughter Catherine, while the Batdorf family included widow Catherine with her two children Martin, who married Elizabeth Walborn, and Elizabeth, who married C.W. Walborn.
Additional families completing this remarkable settlement included Johannes Zeller with son Henry and daughters Mary and Elizabeth; Philip and Elisabetha Magdalena Braun; J. Michael and Elizabeth Meiser; Martin and Catherine Stupp with Adam; the Gutman family comprising J. George, Anna Margaretha, Daniel, and Maria Barbara. Several undocumented families also participated, including Margaret Feg (a widow with daughter Margaret), Henry Bassler with daughter Mary, Margaret Wolff, Christopher and Christina Bauer, and Jacob and Maria Kobel with son John.
The Final Journey: From New Jersey to Northumberland County
The final phase of our ancestral migrations occurred in the latter half of the 18th century, as established New Jersey families recognized Pennsylvania’s superior opportunities and made their way westward to Northumberland County. Abraham Wortman initiated this pattern in 1745, relocating to Pennsylvania following his wife Anna’s death. Thirty years later, Susan Anna Cossart made the same transition.
The 1780s marked the peak of this final migration wave. Abraham Wortman, now widowed again after Eleanor’s death, returned to Pennsylvania around 1780, followed by Rachel Andrews that same year. In 1784, Jacob Servis and Isabel Elizabeth Fleming completed their journey to Pennsylvania, while Susan Fisher arrived in 1785 accompanied by her parents Joseph Fischer and Catherine Minegar. The decade concluded with Elizabeth Farrow’s 1795 migration, traveling with her parents James Farrow and Elizabeth Lacy, representing the final documented movement in this remarkable chapter of family perseverance and pursuit of better lives.
Recent Immigrants: Pennsylvania or Bust!
More recently, Irish-Italians such as the Romanos, McCabes and O’Connors, who had landed in New York, left for central Pennsylvania while the German Wittles, Scottish Stewarts and the Italian Acris arrived in Philadelphia and immediately settled west in Lancaster, Cumberland, and Dauphin Counties. Finally, the Georgia Mazos and Currys would wind their way to meet Pennsylvania’s promises.
Central Pennsylvania offered colonists several important advantages and opportunities that attracted settlers—particularly Germans, Scots-Irish, and others seeking land, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. Central Pennsylvania offered land, religious and cultural freedom, natural resources, fertile lands, tight-knit communities, strategic location, and economic opportunity to colonists from across Europe. It was a region of promise—but also of conflict, especially after the French and Indian War brought Native resistance and British military involvement to the area.
Through war, religion, poverty, and broken promises, all these ancestors—whether from New England, New York, the South, or abroad—ultimately made the same decision. They left oppression and instability behind, seeking a freer life in Pennsylvania. Their paths were varied, their trials immense, but their choice was the same. They all chose Pennsylvania.
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