The restless Palatines sent a number of deputies to the Schoharie Valley to make arrangements with the Indians there. The Indians were easily persuaded to sell the land, making it the third occasion they had parted with their claims to the same land. The first was through a purchase to Nicholas Bayard in 1695, the second as a gift to Governor Hunter from the government, and now to the Palatines. The Palatines were ignorant of the fact that the land no longer belonged to the Indians and was not theirs to give away.¹⁰⁴

Later that autumn, about 150 families moved to Albany and Schenectady in preparation for setting up a colony in the Schoharie valley. About 50 of these families were impatient and went ahead to the valley and set up tents within two weeks.¹⁰⁵ At the same time, Governor Hunter ordered the Palatines to return because they had no legal right to live in Schoharie and they were still under contract. The Palatines, of course, paid no heed. In March 1713, the remainder of the families joined the 50 already living in Schoharie. Seven settlements began to pop up—Kruskerdorf, Gerlachsdorf, Fuchsendorf (later called Fox Town), Schmidsdorf (later called Smith’s Town), Brunnendorf (later known as Fountaindorf or Waterstown), Hartmansdorf, Weiserdorf and Oberweiserdorf.¹⁰⁶

In the summer of 1714, Nicholas Bayard, whose grandfather had previously owned the land upon which the Palatines lived, visited the Palatines in Schoharie. He claimed that if each householder would describe the boundaries of their land, he would issue a free deed and title in the name of the Queen. The Palatines did not trust him and ran him out of town, saying that he was working in Hunter’s interests, which he was not.¹⁰⁷ Bayard then sold his title, which included 10,000 acres, to five citizens of Albany—Myndert Schuyler; Peter van Brugh; Robert Livingston, Jr.; John Schuyler and Peter Wileman. These men were known as the Five Partners until Lewis Morris, Jr., and Andrus Coeman joined, thus making them the Seven Partners.¹⁰⁸

In 1715, Governor Hunter and the Seven Partners ordered the Palatines that they would have to purchase, lease or leave the land that they lived on. The Palatines were offered land free from any kind of rent for ten years and then a very moderate quit-rent after that. The Palatines refused, saying the land was already theirs.¹⁰⁹ In response, Hunter issued a warrant to arrest ringleader John Conrad Weiser, sending a sheriff from Albany to serve the warrant. A mob gathered in Weiserdorf to prevent the sheriff from taking Weiser in custody and beat him up and then ran him out of town on a rail.¹¹⁰

Everything was quiet for two more years until 1717, when Hunter ordered Weiser, along with three men from each village, to appear before him. Hunter told the men that unless the men came to an agreement with the Seven Partners, they would be evicted from the land. The men protested, saying they had built homes and made improvements on the land, and that there was no way they could possibly leave. Hunter promised to send twelve men out to Schoharie to appraise the land and reimburse the men, but he failed to follow through with his promise. In the meantime, the Palatines had been ordered not to plow the land, but they had go against the wishes of the Governor because they badly needed food for the winter.¹¹¹

Map of Burnetsfield Patent. Map of Stone Arabia patent.

Tired of being treated unfairly by Hunter and the Seven Partners, the Palatines, in 1718, sent Weiser, William Scheff and Gerhart Walrath to London with the hopes that the three men could successfully plead their cause to the Queen. The men sailed from Philadelphia, but their ship was stopped by pirates who robbed them of their money. The men had to stop in Boston to replace the supplies the pirates had stolen from them. By the time they reached London, they were penniless and thrown into prison because they had accumulated debts on the way. By this time, Hunter himself returned to London hoping to be reimbursed for his contribution to the Palatines’ subsistence and living expenses. He falsely claimed that Palatines had taken possession of lands in Schoharie which had already been granted to others. He pointed out that the landowners had given the Palatines a generous offer of no rent for ten years and a very moderate quit-rent after that. His suggestion that the Palatines be removed to other lands on the frontier was approved. The three Schoharie representatives were finally released from prison and returned home without successfully defending themselves before the British government. Only John Conrad Weiser made it safely home in November 1723. Walrath and Schef had left several years before but died before reaching New York.¹¹²

Hunter’s successor, Governor William Burnet, was ordered to find some suitable lands to settle the Palatines. In 1721, some of the Palatines were given the opportunity to purchase land belonging to the Mohawks, providing that the land was at least forty miles north of Fort Hunter and at least eighty miles from Albany. Burnet had made this condition so that the frontier could be expanded. The next year, Burnet purchased land in the Mohawk Valley, known as the Burnetsfield Patent, for sixty Palatine families led by John Christopher Gerlach, who wanted to split away from the others. On October 19, 1723, twenty-seven Palatines were issued the Stone Arabia patent of 12,700 acres. This settlement became Palatine Bridge and the town of Palatine.¹¹³ Fifteen families left the Schoharie Valley to settle in the Tulpehocken region which is now known as Berks County, Pennsylvania. By 1730, Palatine families could be found in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut and the Carolinas.¹¹⁴

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