- 1683—August 16—Pastorius reaches Philadelphia.
- 1683—October 6—Thirteen families from Crefeld reach Philadelphia and settle Germantown.
- 1688—First protest against slavery issued here.
- 1690—First paper mill in America established here.
- 1705—First portrait in oil painted in America, made in Germantown by Dr. Christopher Witt.
- 1708—First Mennonite meeting house in America built in Germantown.
- 1719—February 17—Death of Pastorius.
- 1732—April 8—David Rittenhouse born at Germantown.
- 1743—First Bible in America in a foreign tongue printed in Germantown by Christopher Sauer.
- 1760—Germantown Academy founded.
- 1764—Sauer begins publication of first religious magazine in America.
- 1770—First American book on pedagogy published.
- 1772-73—First type ever cast in America made in Germantown.
- —(“Guidebook to Historic Germantown.”)
Why Germany Strengthened Her Army, Told by Asquith.
Why Germany Strengthened Her Army, Told by Asquith.—(From a London dispatch by Marconi wireless to the New York “Times” under date of January 1, 1914): “The ‘Daily Chronicle’ this morning publishes the conversation with the Chancellor’s consent.... Another reason which the Chancellor (Asquith) gave was that the continental nations were directing their energies more and more to strengthening their land forces. ‘The German army,’ he said, ‘was vital to the very life and independence of the nation itself, surrounded as Germany was by nations each of which possessed armies almost as powerful as her own.... Hence Germany was spending huge sums of money on the expansion of her military resources.’”
Hagner, Peter.
Hagner, Peter.—First to hold the position of Third Auditor of the U. S. Treasury upon the creation of that office in 1817 under President Monroe. Served the government 57 years and died at Washington, July 16, 1849, aged seventy-seven. Born in Philadelphia, October 1, 1772.
Hartford Convention, The.
Hartford Convention, The.—In no section of the country was there louder acclaim of President Wilson’s public insinuations of disloyalty against German Americans than in New England. The Boston papers particularly distinguished themselves in applauding this unwarranted sentiment. And it came with particularly bad grace from this section, which long antedated the South in measures designed to embarrass and disrupt the Union. During the War of 1812 the New England banks sought to cripple the federal government in securing the necessary money to prosecute the war against England, and late in 1814 the legislature of Massachusetts called a convention of the New England states to meet at Hartford in December of that year. The sessionswere secret and while the discussion was never published they were commonly held to be treasonable and intended to destroy the Union.The Convention recognized the principle of secession by proclaiming that “a severence of the Union by one or more states, against the will of the rest and especially in the time of war, can be justified only by absolute necessity.” The Convention made demands, the apparent intention of which was “to force these demands upon an unwilling administration while it was hampered by a foreign war, or in case of refusal to make such refusal a pretext for dismembering the Union.... An additional object of the Convention was to hamper and cripple the administration to the last degree, and at a moment when the country was overrun by a foreign foe, to overthrow the party in power, or to break up the Union. The men of this Convention were among the leading Federalists of the country, and with all their good qualities it is evident that their patriotism was shallow.” (“History of the United States” by Henry William Elson, Ph. D., Litt. D., The MacMillan Company, p. 446-447.) The work of the Convention came to naught. Peace put a stop to its intended mischief.
Hempel.
Hempel.—German American inventor of the much patented iron “quoin,” used to lock type in the form, and in common use by printers.