Jacob Berlin :: The Voyage Across the Ocean

As shown in There were three brothers who immigrated... Yeah, Right! Jacob Berlin arrived in Philadelphia on November 9, 1738 on the Charming Nancy with his two brothers, Frederick and Abraham. Jacob is my 6th great-grandfather.



List 65 A in "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" (Strassburger/Hinke, 1934) not only gave the names of the men over the age of fifteen years, but also gave their ages. Among the 65 men listed were: Hans Jacob Barlin, 22; Geo. Fredk. Barlin, 18; and Abraham Barlin, 16.







The Harbor of Philadelphia seen from New Jersey Shore, based on Scull's Map of 1754 (From Etching in The Historical Society of Pennsylvania) published in "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" (Strassburger/Hinke, 1934)



Since there is apparently(I haven't seen it)a record of their father, George, requesting permission to leave their home in Niederbronn and given the fact that he is not on any of the passenger lists for the Charming Nancy, it is presumed that George and his wife perished on the voyage on their way to a new life. Reading about the conditions on the ships and the crowded conditions, it is not surprising that they could be among those who died.



The year 1738 became known as "The Year of the Destroying Angels" due to a higher than average number of passenger deaths and illness on ships coming from England. Also that year there were a higher number of immigrants leaving their homeland, nearly 6000. The number of German immigrants arriving in Philadelphia had more than doubled each year beginning in 1735 with 268, 736 in 1736, and 1528 in 1737. Ships were overcrowded and heavily laden.



Part one of the article by Klaus Wust "The Emigration Season of 1738 – Year of the Destroying Angels" was published online in 1998, with his permission. I've picked out a few passages that mentioned either the Stedman Brothers or the Charming Nancy.

"In Rotterdam, additional merchant ships were fitted for the overflow of emigrants. Even the departures of John Stedman's St. Andrew and Charles Stedman's Charming Nancy were delayed by these transformations. Passengers said the two Stedmans had deliberately picked the healthiest and sturdiest people."

"Captain Walter Goodman of the Robert & Alice sent a letter back to Germany on October 19th. Excerpts were published in the Rotterdamse Courant two months later:

"On the 4th of July last I sailed out of Dover in England and arrived here on this river on the 9th of September with crew and passengers in good health but on the way I had many sick people, yet, since not more than 18 died, we lost by far the least of all the ships arrived to-date. We were the third ship to arrive. I sailed in company with four of the skippers who together had 425 deaths, one had 140, one 115, one 90, and one 80. The two captains Stedman have not yet arrived and I do not doubt that I shall be cleared for departure before they arrive since I begin loading tomorrow. I have disposed of all my passengers except for 20 families."

"On November 20th another letter from the people in Germantown to the people in Wittgenstein was sent. The letter concludes with an upward assessment of the total number of victims: "There has been a cruel, destroying angel among the travelers this year for the number of those who died so far on the voyage and here has reached about ..."

"The ship Davy qualified in the port of Philadelphia on October 25th. The next day the Gazette revealed the horrible story of this voyage. The captain, both mates and 160 passengers died at sea. It was the ship's carpenter, William Patton, who brought the ravaged vessel up the Delaware. Patton listed 74 men, 47 women and no children as the remaining passengers but only 40 of the men were well enough to come to the courthouse."

"Next appeared the long overdue St. Andrew, commanded by the favorite ship captain of the Germans, John Stedman. Several letters of passengers on some of his previous five runs between Rotterdam and Philadelphia were full of praise for him. This time, on a voyage that lasted twelve weeks, almost 120 passengers had died before reaching port on October 29th. The same day, Lloyd Zachary and Thomas Bond, two physicians recruited by the authorities to tighten the inspection of the incoming Palatine ships, presented this report to the colonial council:

"We have carefully examined the State of Health of the Mariners and Passengers on board the Ship St. Andrew, Captain Steadman, from Rotterdam, and found a great number labouring under a malignant, eruptive fever, and are of the opinion, they cannot, for some time, be landed in town without the danger of infecting the inhabitants."

"It was the last emigrant transport that John Stedman ever commanded. After his return to Europe, he settled down in Rotterdam in the shipping business. There was disbelief in the German community that such fate could have befallen a ship led by a Stedman. The Send-Schreiben expressed the reaction as follows:

"The two Stedmans, who had so far been renowned for the transfer of Germans and wanted to keep this reputation, also had to suffer the plight this time, one of them lost near 120 before landfall, although he had a party of the Hope's roughest and sturdiest folks, who had to succumb to sickness and fear of death. And the other one lost probably five-sixths, of 300 hardly 60 were left. His mates and some of his sailors he lost and he himself lay near death."

The online article ends at this point, I haven't yet obtained a copy of the entire article (it's on my To Do list). But after reading the above article, I think it is a wonder that the three Berlin brothers survived the journey. They were young and most certainly of strong stock. The conditions on board the ship must have been terrible. I can imagine the boys trying to help the other passengers and wonder what they must have thought of the situation. Obviously, I am delighted that they survived!

Oregon Inlet

While driving home from our trip, we enjoyed the scenery. I started to get emotional as we got closer to OBX. As soon as we hit the first bridge, I yelled out, "We're home".



I got really excited when we hit the Oregon Inlet, because I knew we were really close to home. I think the inlet is so beautiful. Something about the contrast of the blue water with the green and tan grass is just peaceful to me.

It has an interesting history too. From Wikipedia:



Oregon Inlet is an inlet along North Carolina's Outer Banks. It joins the Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean and separates Bodie Island from Pea Island, which are connected by a 2.5 mile bridge that spans the inlet. As one of the few access points to the ocean along this stretch of coast, Oregon Inlet is a major departure point for charter fishing trips, with a nearby harbor serving as the base for many large boats that travel miles out towards the Gulf Stream almost every day. The area is also home to a U.S. Coast Guard station.



Oregon Inlet was formed when a hurricane lashed the Outer Banks in 1846, separating Bodie Island from Pea Island. One ship that rode out that storm in Pamlico Sound was named the Oregon. After the storm the crew members of this ship were the first to tell those on the mainland about the inlet's formation. Hence, it has been known as Oregon Inlet ever since.

Akin to many other inlets along the Outer Banks, Oregon Inlet moves southward due to drifting sands during tides and storms. It has moved south over two miles since 1846, averaging around 66 feet per year.

It's just beautiful, isn't it?



Living the life in North Carolina!

Technical Hammers Revisited.

iPad Envy

Thursday evening, footnoteMaven was flaunting her tech toys: Droid phone, iPod video camera, and her iPad – I want one of those! I really, really want one!

Steve has one too. So does Dick. I want one... (photo courtesy of Cheryl Palmer)

I spent half an hour writing a query for Dick's GenQueries project in the hopes that I might win the iPad he was giving away. But alas, that didn't happen. Looks like I'll have to go out and buy one.

Mt. Baker

The other guys had to head home after Shuksan, but Dave and Doug stayed to climb Baker the next day. As the forest thinned out, we came to a staircase of flat rocks.





We see a lot of awesome flowers on our climbs.





Sulfur gas and clouds high on Baker. We climbed the Easton Glacier.





An icefall area low on the Easton.




Baker is known for it's numerous huge crevasses!






Dave taking in the view.



Climbers on the edge of Sherman Crater. Sulfur gas is rising behind them.







Sherman Crater as seen from the summit.







Sulfur gas is constantly hissing out of fumaroles in Sherman Crater.













Dave and Doug on the summit.







Doug looking down at the Easton and Deming Glaciers.

Talks on the Beach

We try to get out and do a beach walk just about every day. They could just as easily be called beach talks though because something about the walking and the environment seems to lend to much talking too. This little cutie must have experienced the same thing because she talked non-stop the entire time we were there together.



Living the life in OBX!

Gearing up?

For the guys that are really good at alpine climbing I doubt they spend as much time at sorting gear as I do. But with less time to climb and generally more time to think about it I admit to putting in some serious overtime sorting and deciding on the gear I'll useonalpine trip with a planned bivy.







The guy pictured above might be the exception to that general rule. But Mark still climbed more than he wrote or ever talked. So may be all the "real" guys just talk about it less but obsess obout itbehind the door of their own gear closet.



As I was about to finish this blog piece I got a hearty laugh. Thank God I am not selling anything as this is actually the ultimate ad for what Dane thinks is thecool shit :) Take the choices with a grain of salt here. Simply my/our choices for the moment. Things continue to change.....and I am swayed by things like cost as well as function just like everyone else. But from all thechoices available to me (and the choices are trulyunlimited) this is what we are using for this trip.

Everything else being equal (and it never really is) and I have the chance, I look at the numbers first. How much does it weigh?



If you look at the shell test we are about to do (which isthe reason I came upwith blog entry) there are shells there that weigh from 5.6oz to 22.9oz. You can bet which one I will start off in when I need a shell. But if you kick out the highs and lows there the better shells for what I had intended to test will run between 13oz. and 19 oz. Which makes much more sense "everything else being equal".



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//09/shell-shoot-off-mano-mano.html



I've had cold injuries this time of the year on Rainier's North' side. The option of dbl boots or the Batura is open to all of us. Doug and Lee will be in Baturas because they are easier to walk in and lighter than the best off the shelf doubles. I am tempted myself to take Baturas. Warmer than my Ultras but heavier as well.







Easier to climb in though than my Spantiks by volume and easier to walk in. The walk in is easy which we'll do in runners. That means I'll pack my boots from the car to 10K. When I weigh my Baturas and my Spantiks (customised with Baruntse inner boots) the difference is less than2.5 oz per boot...or 5oz for the pair. So themarginal addition of extra weight is worth the warmth and dry boots with a planed 2 days above 10K.









Nod at the moment goes to my Spantiks this time. I'll sleep better for the decision...but cuss the final 1000' of elevation gain on the walk up to Liberty Cap and over to Columbia CrestI suspect.



Crampons? I have a few choices but with heavy boots and a easierroute, a combo of the stainless Sabertooth front and a aluminum Neve heel seems appropriate for this climb. 10oz less a pair than the standard Saber so they are light. Because of the time of year for snow conditions (read cold and dry hopefully) and my questions about the durability/reliability of the stainless Sabertooth I have stripped the bots so I can more easily inspect the crampon for cracks. The other crampons being used are Doug's Petzl Dartwins and Lee's Grivels G22s.







I'm also taking along a lwt axe to supplement my Nomics (one CT hammer, new serrated pommel, ICE picksand no pick weights) on the easier snow climbing so even with out crampons I figure I could cut steps if a crampon failed. Doug has the New Quarks with CT accessories of course. Lee is using older Nomics, no hammers or pick weights. And we all have trekking poles.







At the moment with three of us in a stripepd Nemo TenshiTent a Feathered Friends Vireoseems like a good idea.







Two of us taking them. Lee is playing it smart and is taking a 2# Swallow. With Cascades Designs newest, high tech andsuper lightprototype NeoAir XTherm mattresses andthe tight quarters of the Nemo Tenshiwe should bewarm enough.







With all my gear hopefully stuffed into an admittedly small,25L Blue Ice Wart Hog pack.









Gloves between the three of us seem to be an equal split between Mountain Hardware and Outdoor Research with the odd pair from Arc'teryx thrown in. I'll get more specific on gloves later as it will consume an entire blog post. But Lee wants to take only one pair of gloves. I'll likely take three of differing weights. No sure what Doug will do. But those choices should be of interest with all the new models we have available from the three companies mentioned.







Doug and Lee will be in NWAlpine pants and Salopettes.I will either use NWAlpine Salopettes or the new Patagonia North Wall pant..depending on the tempsforecast between 10 and 14K and what I think will be required under them for longs.









Speaking of longs I am excited to try some of the newest technology (again a Polartec concept) in Cabela's E.C.W.C.S. It is aThermal Zone® Polartec® Power Dry® and might be much betterthan simply dbl layering my longs as I have done in the past to gain warmth in really cold conditions. Guess we'll find out soon enough with all three of us using the Thermal Zone technology.I had heard a rumor thatMr. Twightwas involved in the early design work on these.







The NWAlpine hoodies are a given for all of us as a base or mid layer. We have RAB Infinity Endurance 800 fill down jacketscomingfor a insulation layer.







I am hoping we can use the RAB high quality downgarments under/over these testshells and have the newest technology there WOW us with the performance.







Nastia climbing high on ourcurrent objective. (photo courtesy of N. B.)