The war (1618-1648) resulted in the deaths of over half of the Palatine population. The war was largely, especially in the beginning, a religious war between Catholics and Protestants.
The Lutheran Church at Bad Durkheim, recorded their marriage: On the 22nd of January, 1650, Hans Jacob Schweitzer, of Germany and lead hand at Bad Durkhelm was married to Eva, the endowed, legitimate daughter of the Magistrate.
Johann Jacob Schweitzer was born in the Palatinate in western Germany. In 1650 he married Eva Renner who died childless in 1657. In 1658 he married Elesabeth Kesselring and they were the parents of four boys. In 1709 two of their sons immigrated to Ireland. While most of their descendants remained in Ireland, some immigrated to Canada between 1820-1860. Descendants live in Ontario and other parts of Canada, as well as the United States, New Zealand, Ireland and other parts of the world.
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I have never liked being cold! I have been stranded in three blizzards and several times the temperatures have been recorded in the -40’s, but never have I experienced the cold snap when temperatures plummeted across Europe and stayed below freezing for months. When dawn broke on the feast of Epiphany January 6, 1709 the European continent would not warm up for three months. Everything turned to ice! The sea froze, and trees exploded when the sap froze inside them. The native oaks and ash in the mighty forests succumbed and birds on the wing fell out of the sky. The grape vines tended by Christopher withered and died. There was no way for Christopher, my 8th great grandfather to make a living after this as it would be years before new grape vines would be mature enough to make fruit for the wine.
Johann Christopher Schwertzer was 23 years old. He shivered uncontrollably seated beside a roaring fire by his father’s hearth. Encased in his bearskin and hungry, even an axe couldn’t break the frozen bread. Out in the barn, his older brother, Michael, had found the milk cow, also frozen to death. The two brothers had been born at Assenheim, Germany, four years apart, 1681 and 1685.
The Palatinate of Germany was one of the states of the old Holy Roman Empire, situated along the Rhine River. Louis XIV of France built lavish castles coming from funds levied on the farmers. The burden on the Schweitzer family was severe. Wars had had been fought for years. Foraging armies had reduced the food supply and they were on the verge of starvation. The final crushing blow was the severe winter of 1709.
A dismal future waited for them when Queen Anne of England sent agents distributing pamphlets. In an effort to populate the America Colonies, she promised passage to America. Christopher and his brother Michael were amongst a mass exodus of over 13,000 individuals leaving Germany in search of a better life.
England was overwhelmed. They had to stop and turn back some, but the brothers arrived and were put in a tent city, outside London called Blackhearth in a Palatine refugee camp. Over 300 years ago, this great grandfather of mine was listed there as a husbandman (herdsman) and vinedresser. The brothers did not make it to America, the English didn’t have enough resources. Luckily, Sir Thomas Southwell of Castle Matrix, near Rathekeal, Ireland used his personal wealth and sponsored the first of ten families. He rented to each 200 acres for 50 years. In 1709 Christopher built an ancestral home, still standing and restored today by family, on the lane to the Castle Matrix.
Castle Matrix with its distinctive turrets and winding stone staircases had been built as a fortress in 1420. In early 1600, the castle was granted to the Southwell family. Sir Thomas Southwell was a key figure bringing the refugees to Ireland. They did not live in the castle but settled on his estate at Rathkeale, near Limerick, Ireland. Castlematrix (one word) was the town. Katherine would learn the castle’s history. The Castle was owned by the 8th Earl of Desmond in 1487. He was so unpopular with his servants, one murdered him. His brother became the 9th Earl. He avenged his brother’s death by executing every servant. During the rebellions and wars the Irish seized and captured the Castle Matrix in 1641. Then Cromwell’s forces took it back in 1651. The Southwell family lived in it and it was described as 9 bedrooms, water closets, a dining and a drawing room and a library, with circular stairways. Lady Southwell had been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen and her husband, Sir Thomas had been favored with a large land grant near Castle Matrix. Interested in the linen industry he asked that mostly weavers and farmers be sent to him. His wife set up an industry for their wives. There are remains of the weaving shed and millrace outside the castle wall.
My mom visited Castle Matrix and she was treated like a long lost relative - there is a Switzer house there still standing.
Before the Palatines were sent to Ireland, the English authorities
had returned to the Palatinate all those who preferred
to remain Roman Catholic.
Necessarily, all the Irish Palatines were Protestants.
But they had no German preacher with them, and thier inability to understand English kept them from attending the Anglican Church,
which was located at Rathkeale, near their settlements.
Wesley says, "They were become eminent for drunkenness
cursing, swearing and an utter neglect of religion."
After 1749, there was frequent Methodist preaching in all the settlements,
and by 1760, Wesley reports, there was no swearing, drunkenness
sabbath breaking or liquer houses in any of them.
Such was the influence of Methodism.
Court Mattress seems to have accepted Methodism
more readily than the other villages,
for it was the first to erect a chapel.
John Wesley (1703-1791) himself preached to the Limerick palatines and they became Wesley’s poster children for the benefits of the true religion. Barbara Ruckle Heck was an Irish Palatine early immigrant to the U.S. who came to Ontario as a United Empire Loyalist. She became known as the mother of North American Methodism.
I once asked my mother about the difference between Catholics and Protestants. In what I now realize was a classic Wesleyan Methodist response she said: “Well dear, the Catholics put graven images and priests between themselves and God, but we don’t.” Case closed!
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The Irish Palatines of Limerick were often at odds with their surrounding Catholic neighbours. The Palatines sometimes acted as debt collectors for English landlords, were active in the yeomanry militia, and paid lower than market rate rents for their land. A number of Palatines were murdered by Catholic terror-groups such as the Whiteboys.
It is then not surprising that many of the Palatines were active members of the Orange Lodge in Canada. Catholics of course were not fond of Orangemen.
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William Wesley Lewis (1867-1960), was Ida’s father-in-law, my other maternal great-grandfather (see photograph below). In 1888, he left Crediton, Ontario, and homesteaded in the Crandall area. He built a sod house and planted potatoes in his roof. William was a “water witch” and used his occult powers to help his neighbours find suitable locations to dig their wells.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/671271
https://apictureand1000wordsblog.wordpress.com/2021/03/18/__trashed-2/
https://conflictinglegacies.wordpress.com/chapter-5-the-palatine-irish-farmers/
https://shiergenealogy.ca/p265.htm
Her married name was Switzer. Marriage* Catherine Elizabeth Ruckle married Johann CHRISTOPHER Switzer, son of Johann Jacob Schweitzer and Anna Maria Jonerin, in 1720.
https://ogs.on.ca/shop/irish-palatine-pioneers-in-upper-canada-commemorating-300-years-1907-2009/ out of stock
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