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Backcountry Dutch:
German Heritage & Decorative Arts in Frederick County
(June 6-November 30, 2008)
Backcountry Dutch refers to a region and a people. The term “dutch” has been used for centuries to refer to people from Germanic areas of Europe. Historically, the backcountry refers to the area of the frontier that had been settled.
Germanic settlers to Frederick County can be divided into three groups:
Pennsylvania emigrants—the largest and earliest group had spent some time in southeastern Pennsylvania before heading south and west attracted by the offer of cheap, high-quality land
German immigrants—attracted by letters from relatives or the marketing of land speculators, people came from across the German-speaking regions of Europe
Hessian transplants—German mercenaries hired by England to fight in the American Revolution were held as prisoners in Frederick following the surrender at Yorktown. Some of these soldiers chose to stay rather than return to Europe
CLOCKS
Primarily trained in shops of master craftsmen in Southeastern Pennsylvania, German clockmakers came to Frederick County as early as the middle of the 1700s, for an opportunity to establish their own businesses. Though Frederick Town, as it was known then, was the main market town, some set up shop in other, smaller towns throughout the county such as Emmittsburg, Woodsboro and Libertytown. The tall case clocks shown here were not the only goods clockmakers produced. Both Frederick Nusz in Frederick and Jacob Martz of Woodsboro were silversmiths as well as clockmakers. Jacob Grove, who lived near Middletown made clocks and guns.
GLASS
The first recorded glass manufactory in Frederick County was opened by a German partnership sometime after 1774. Today scholars refer to this early works which was located near the Monocacy River, south of Frederick, as the Foltz, Kramer, Eberhart Factory. When founding partner Conrad Foltz died in 1784, a German entrepreneur named John Frederick Amelung purchased the glassworks. amelung chartered a ship that carried him and a group of glassblowers and their families from Bremen, Germany to America. The factory was renamed the New Bremen Glassmanufactory and in less than a decade became the largest glass producer in the new United States. Financial difficulties, probably due to the company’s rapid growth, forced Amelung out of business in 1795.
GUNS
Some of the earliest craftsmen to come to Frederick County were gunsmiths. The majority of gunsmiths in the county were of German extraction and many settled here as early as 1760s. The American Revolution meant increased business for the gunsmiths. The state’s Council of Safety identified Frederick County as having more gunsmiths than anywhere else in Maryland. The “art or mystery” of gun making, as one indenture document described it, remained a significant occupation well into the nineteenth century. The federal armory at Harpers Ferry employed a large number of armorers trained in the shops of Frederick County gunsmiths, most of whom had German last names.
FURNITURE
Skilled carpenters, joiners and cabinetmakers were crucial to the settlement of Frederick County and a number of them were of German extraction. Some had been trained in Old Country workshops while others acquired their skills from masters in places like Lancaster and Philadelphia. Decoration, form and technique set German-made furniture apart from goods produced in English oriented shops. Chests and schranks (large free-standing storage cupboards) were frequently made for German customers and these same pieces might carry ornamentation such as flowers, birds, arches and pillars that could be found on other decorative items.
PAPER & INK
Fragile but informative, items made with paper and ink are fascinating examples of Germanic influence on our culture. The earliest German settlers in Frederick County read German-language newspapers, almanacs, Bibles and other documents produced in Pennsylvania. As the “dutch” population grew so did demand for printed materials and by the 1770s, documents printed in German were coming from at least Frederick County and distributed as far away as Winchester, Virginia. These printed documents represented the public life of German settlers. The carefully hand-written, painted and cut pieces of paper that record their private lives; the diaries, frakturs or decorated certificates, and schereschnitte, the art of paper cutting, show us the creative side of German culture.
CLOTH
Weavers and other craftsmen involved in making cloth included Germans as well. Joseph Doll ran a fulling mill in the late 1700s. The establishment, between Frederick and Woodsboro processed woven woolen cloth into sturdy yardage for seamstress and tailors. George Conradt used wool and linen to produce rugs at his factory on All Saints Street in Frederick. Coverlets are sometimes particularly associated with Germans even though they were made by people of a variety of ethnic backgrounds. The bird or distelfink motif found in some quilts certainly would be familiar to Germans; as would the use of bold colors. Using a corner block woven into the coverlet to advertise the name of the maker was a popular practice among German weavers in particular.
POTTERY
Objects both useful and decorative emerge from a potter’s kiln and Germans played a most influential part in the ceramics coming from, and found in, Frederick County. The route of the migration of Germans from Southeastern Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley via Frederick and Washington Counties is practically paved with pottery. The earliest documented sites of pottery production the area date to the 1750s, in Frederick County. Since his, or less commonly her, goods are so easily moved, a potter’s influence can be defined by region and not simply by city, county or even state. That is why earthenware and stoneware made in Frederick County have been identified with the Shenandoah Valley.
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Ice Cream Social
Thursday, August 21
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
HSFC Heritage Garden
History Symposium: Backcountry Dutch: German Colonial Heritage
Friday, September 12
9:00 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Frederick Community College Cougar Café
Bus Trip: Lancaster, PA
Friday, September 26
7:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Meet at Riverview Plaza Shopping Center
Goods from the Hearth
Saturday, October 14
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Museum of Frederick County History
MORE EVENTS >>
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The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is located in Frederick County in Emmitsburg. Mother Seton lived here from 1809 until her death in 1821. She founded the Sister of Charity of St. Joseph’s and St. Joseph’s Academy, the first parochial school in the United States. In 1975 she became the first native-born North American to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. 