Publisher's Synopsis
Hawk`s research was motivated by the relationship of his wife, Darlene (Grindstaff) Hawk, to her eighth generation grandfather, Dietrich Crantzdorf (Grindstaff)-born in 1650 in Zweibruken in the Lower Palatinate of Germany. In 1738 Dietrich`s two sons, with wives, boarded the Thistle for Philadelphia-along with a notable grandson of 14 years, named Nicholas. Some regions of the Lower Palatinate, heirs of the Protestant Reformation, had become almost depopulated by plundering armies of strong Catholic persuasion. Hawk notes that 1738 was recognized as the deadliest of the sailing seasons, famously called `the year of destroying angels`. Included in Hawk`s work are named Palatine ships of 1738, passenger loads, and dates of embarkation and debarkation. Hawk closely examines the nightmarish crisis at Rotterdam, where waves of Palatines arrived for the Spring voyages to Philadelphia, but ships were late in arriving. The bottleneck caused draining of resources, overloading of ships, rationing at sea, and indenturing at Philadelphia. Hawk`s data suggests that debarkation delays and turmoil were caused by short-spaced departures of overloaded ships. The popular Dutch ship, Flute, was commonly used for carrying passengers to the New World, and Hawk includes an image of the flute ship from Culiver`s classic, OLD SHIPS- courtesy of Dover Publications. Weary Palatines faced a firestorm of resistance during debarkation. Officials called for construction of a `Pest house` for those with `Palatine fever`. About 50 years after Dietrich`s grandson left Germany, Nicholas received very large land grants in Johnson County, Tennessee. Nicholas, and generations after him--including those of Darlene (Grindstaff) Hawk-enjoyed prosperity from farming, harvesting timber, and mining iron ore from the land, In 1948 a. large TVA dam, approved by President Roosevelt, covered the lovely lands.
