Francis
Daniel Pastorius
was born in Sommerhausen, Germany, in
1651. Pastorius studied at the University of Altdorf and practiced
law in Frankfurt. While a lawyer Pastorius was converted by the religious
ideas of William Penn.
In 1683 Pastorius arranged for a group of twelve Quaker
families from Krefeld to sail to America on a ship called the Concord.
When Pastorius arrived in Philadelphia
he purchased 15,000 acres of land from William
Penn and established a settlement of Germantown, the first permanent
settlement of German immigrants in America.
Pastorius became Germantown's burgomaster and in 1687 a member of
Pennsylvania's assembly. Germantown concentrated on producing cloth
and sold considerable quantities to New York
and Boston. Pastorius was opposed to slavery
and it was banned in Germantown. In 1688 he became the first person
in America to organize a petition against slavery. He also campaigned
against it in other German colonies in America.
Pastorius also taught at his own school but also a member of staff
at the Quaker school in Philadelphia.
He also wrote several books and pamphlets including Methodical
Directions to Attain the True Spelling, Reading and Writing of English
(1698). Francis Daniel Pastorius died in Germantown on 1st January,
1720.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
