Dutch Inf.

By Bruce W. Barnes, PHD

Akron, Ohio

Spring 19885

While my uncle referred to us as flatheaded "Dutchmen," and our ancestors came from Germany to PA, am I a PA German or PA Dutch? The former seems to be a better term. Richard H. SHRYUOCK wrote that it is to be assumed that PA Germans were those Germans who immigrated into that province or state prior to about 1812, and their descendants in other religions including the Carolinas, Iowa and Ontario. 36 {

Since my earliest ancestors arrived in 1751, they would fit into this category. SHRYOCK said that he employed the term "PA Germans" to include both the German and the English speaking descendants of the original German settlers from PA never referred to themselves as "the Dutch," but correctly termed themselves "Germans." 38 {

The term "Dutch" was used mainly by English speaking people who cold not properly pronounce the word "Deutsch," the German word for German. "PA Dutch" is the language that was a dialect of the early German settlers that settled in PA. The language was familiarly known as "PA Deutsch." it was made up of the dialect used in the ancient Palatinate, Wuerttemberg, Baden and other areas bordering the Rhine, intermixed with English words. 39 {

Royal Governor TRYON of North Carolina visited Captain BARRINGGER on the Dutch Buffalo Creek before the Revolutionary War and referred to him as "the gallant Dutchman." 40 {

Both the language and the names of these early settlers did not die easily. The PA Germans in what is now Cabarras Co. were isolated from their English speaking neighbors in a rural setting. The German language was the language of the cradle, altars, firesides, baptisms, marriages, and funerals. Because these people spoke German, they took little interest in the politics of their own day. The Bible of Luther was used in their schools and churches. 41 {

Before the Revolutionary War, the modern day COON was KUHN, BARRINGER was BEHRINGER, SMITH was SCHMDT and WILLIAMS was WILHELM. 42 { } Because of the commercial and legal transactions that required English, a change eventually took place, and even their surnames were anglicized. 43 { } One of our relatives, Sarah FAGGART, married an Elijah COTTON in 1808. The records state that at the time of her marriage she spoke only German, while he spoke English but could understand German. Sarah was born I 1790 and died in 1853.

Bernheim noticed in 1872 that the German communities were rapidly losing their language, reminding his readers that there had been a time when many Negro slaves spoke nothing else. Nine years later, in 1881, the Rev. Jethro Rumple wrote:

The PA Dutch has almost ceased to be heard on our streets, where once its quaint tones of mingled German and English was so familiar. The dialect is gone, but the accent and the idiom still linger on in many tongues, and the tradition and folklore of the Old World still flow in deep undercurrent in many families. It was estimated that in the year 1899 about twelve members of St. John's in Cabarrus could still speak "Deutsh." 44 { }

My records and research contradict some of these writings. For example, the first English school was not opened in Cabarrus Co. until 1898 by John YEOMAN. If the language of the school was German, it seems hard to believe that only twelve could still speak German I 1899. 45 { } The Germans in Cabarrus Co. apparently clung to their language a long time both at home and in church. SHARPE states in 1856, that the Lutherans in Cabarrus County frequently used the word "already" in the sense of "now." They also used "Parson" in addressing their minister, e.g., Parson HAHN or Parson BLACKWELDER.

The German accents must have still been very strong after 1900. My Uncle, mother and her oldest sister can still recall their folks speaking with a strong accent. Today, the German culture that was brought to Cabarrus County has evaporated, and has been assimilated with other cultures.

In my own family, I have done what some people would think of as anachronistic. I have given my children the German names - Arnim, Marin and Jan - and we have spoken only German with them since birth. But I am witnessing what our earliest ancestors must have experienced, because our children must communicate with their peers. They now speak English back to us. We attend Zion Lutheran Church in Akron, Ohio, every other Sunday morning. The services are in High German, both the singing and preaching. While we were visiting St. John's Lutheran Cemetary in Mount Pleasant, Cabarrus County, NC, in December, 1976, and were photographing gravestones of our ancestors, 46 [ } the sounds of my children yelling - "Vater, hier ist ein Faggart" - to me certainly sounded good in that necropolis near the Dutch Bufflo.

......to be continued....