number of German Friends, he emigrated to America, settling upon the
Frankfort Company's tract between the Schuylkill and the Delaware
rivers. The township was divided into four hamlets, namely, Germantown,
Krisheim, Crefield, and Sommerhausen. Soon after his arrival he united
himself with the Society of Friends, and became one of its most able and
devoted members, as well as the recognized head and lawgiver of the
settlement. He married, two years after his arrival, Anneke (Anna),
daughter of Dr. Klosterman, of Muhlheim. In the year 1688 he drew up a
memorial against slaveholding, which was adopted by the Germantown
Friends and sent up to the Monthly Meeting, and thence to the Yearly
Meeting at Philadelphia. It is noteworthy as the first protest made by
a religious body against Negro Slavery. The original document was
discovered in 1844 by the Philadelphia antiquarian, Nathan Kite, and
published in The Friend (Vol. XVIII. No. 16). It is a bold and direct
appeal to the best instincts of the heart. "Have not," he asks, "these
negroes as much right to fight for their freedom as you have to keep
them slaves?" Under the wise direction of Pastorius, the German-town
settlement grew and prospered. The inhabitants planted orchards and
vineyards, and surrounded themselves with souvenirs of their old home.
A large number of them were linen-weavers, as well as small farmers.
The Quakers were the principal sect, but men of all religions were
tolerated, and lived together in harmony. In 1692 Richard Frame
published, in what he called verse, a Description of Pennsylvania, in
which he alludes to the settlement:--

"The German town of which I spoke before,
Which is at least in length one mile or more,
Where lives High German people and Low Dutch,
Whose trade in weaving linen cloth is much,
--There grows the flax, as also you may know