Frederick Loeser, Patriot

The story of the rescue of the Liberty BellMost American families, if you search back far enough, will find themselvesassociated with at least one illustrious or infamous ancestor, maybe more. Oursis no different. One of them, Frederick Loeser, conducted himself with distinctionduring the Revolutionary War, and this is his story.

Johann Jacob Löser

Sometime around May, 1741, two Germans from the Palatinate area of Europeboarded the ship Europa and set sail for the New World, Johann Jacob Löserand his brother Johann Christian Löser.

The Palatinate is a section of Germanyknown as "der Pfalz" by its natives. It is a province of Bavaria, lying west of theRhine River. The German emigrants who came to Pennsylvania between theyears 1683 and 1776 were almost entirely from Southern Germany, especiallythe Palatinate, Wurtemberg, and from Switzerland. Historically, the great majorityof the inhabitants of the Palatinate were Protestant. However, in 1685, King LouisXIV laid claim to a portion of the Palatinate. Finding himself opposed by all theprinces of Northern Europe, he decided to render the Palatinate useless to hisenemies. Not only did he devastate the country, but he also attempted to crushout heresy there. The result was a terrible system of oppression and intolerancethat almost caused the death of Protestantism in the Palatinate.

The war ended in 1697, but the intolerable religious conditions continued, alongwith official corruption and tyranny by the Jesuit-educated ruler. It was at thistime that William Penn, the Quaker, preaching the doctrine of goodwill to all men,brought his offer of a home in his Province in the New World, where they couldlive without wars and persecution, and under laws which they would share inmaking. Thus began what was called by some historians "the greatest massmovement of a people since the Exodus".

One study of passenger lists of immigrants from the Palatinate

suggests thatsome of these people left one place, such as Bern, Switzerland for example,settled a few years in another place like Zwiebrucken Landkreis in Rheinland-Pfalz, then migrated to the New World. Furthermore, these immigrants oftenmigrated in the company of people they resided with in the interim place ofsettlement. One such family was identified on the Europa as having originallycome from Zurich, Switzerland with an intermediate settlement in Birkenfeld,Rheinland-Pfalz. This might provide a clue as to the origin of the Löser brothers.The six month voyage to Pennsylvania, probably accompanied by severehardships and misery, began with a journey down the Rhine to Rotterdam. The

Rhine boat had to pass 26 customs houses between Heilbronn and Rotterdam,with a stop at each for an inspection done when it suited the convenience of thecustom house officials. Because of the many delays, the passengers needed tospend a considerable amount of money along the way. The trip down the Rhinelasted four to six weeks, then another five to six weeks were spent lying in wait atRotterdam.The second stage of the journey was from Rotterdam to the channel port ofLewes, a city in East Sussex in the Southeast of England. Here there wasanother delay of a week or two, with the ship waiting either to be passed throughthe customhouse, or waiting for favorable winds. Once the ship weighed anchorat Lewes, the real misery began with the long voyage across the Atlantic. Thisleg, depending on the wind and weather, often lasted eight to twelve weeksbefore arrival at Philadelphia. The ocean voyage was marked by much sufferingand hardship. The passengers were packed in like herrings, without proper foodand water, and they soon became subject to diseases such as dysentery, scurvy,typhoid, and smallpox. Children were the first to succumb, and they died in largenumbers.Storms raged and waves roared over the ship, threatening to swamp the vessel.When at last the Delaware River was reached, another delay occurred. A healthofficer visited the ship and, if any persons with infectious diseases werediscovered on the ship, it was ordered to remove one mile from the city. Themaster was then taken into custody, fined 500 pounds, and remained in custodyuntil further examination found no evidence of disease.

The Europa, sailing under the command of Captain Lumsdaine, arrived inPhiladelphia in mid-November, 1741. As required by the Provincial Council, ahealth inspection was conducted immediately. Doctors Thomas Graeme andThomas Bond reported to the Governor on November 17, 1741 that "Incomplyance with your orders we have carefully examined the State of Health ofthe Passengers on board three Shallops, brought from the Cape from theEuropa, Capt Lumsdaine, from Roterdam and found no Disease on board that isinfectious."The Captain was then required to present a list of all the immigrants he imported,usually identifying only the male adult passengers and their ages. This list waswritten on a large, loose sheet of paper, and submitted to the Governor at theCourt House in Philadelphia on November 20th. The passengers were led inprocession to the City Hall, where they were administered an oath of allegianceto the King of Great Britain, signing their names on a second list. Lastly, the newarrivals were then required to sign an oath of abjuration, renouncing allegiance toall other authority, civil and religious.

All three of these lists were kept in apaper-bound volume, 8 x 12 inches, which still exists. Copies of the lists showthat the Captain wrote the names as they sounded to him. In the second andthird lists, however, the passengers signed their own names if they could,

showing the correct spelling of their names. To Captain Lumsdaine, the names ofour ancestors sounded like Jacob Lezer (age 18) and Christian Lezer (age 32).However, as we shall see, this problem crops up often through the years, and wefind the surname spelled many different ways; among them, Lizer, Leaser,Loeser, Lisser, Lieser, Laser, Lyser, Licer, Lacer, etc. You can imagine thechallenge this presents to a researcher! The new arrivals were then led back tothe ship. Announcements were printed in newspapers, stating how many of thenew arrivals were to be sold. About 40% of them became indentured servants toland holders

, working until they paid for their passage from Europe. Those whohad money were released. Those having well-to-do friends sought loans to paytheir passage, but only a few succeeded. The ship became the market-place.The buyers made their choice among the arrivals and bargained for a certainnumber of years and days of service. The buyers then took them to themerchant, paid their passage and other debts and received from the governmentauthorities a written document, which made the newcomers their property for adefined period.Upon arrival in Philadelphia, those with means moved to the north and west intopresent day Bucks and Montgomery counties. As more and more settlers arrived,they moved further into the interior, following the Indian trails through theSchuykill, Perkiomen, Oley and Lehigh Valleys, until they reached the foothills ofthe Blue Mountains, which were considered the Frontier bordering on Indianlands. On September 7, 1732 all the land located on the Schuykill River and itsbranches, between the Lehigh Hills and the Blue Mountains, was deeded toWilliam Penn by the Indians. On October 11, 1736 twenty-three Indian chiefsdeeded to the sons of Penn the greater part of what is now Lehigh and Berkscounties.The northwestern portion of present day Lehigh County runs along BlueMountain and was first settled about 1735. It was here that Jacob Lösereventually settled. In a sketch of Lynn Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvaniawritten in 1883, it is stated that "on October 14, 1749 Jacob Leezer (sic) took outa warrant for one hundred and fifteen acres of land".

This land lies in what wasthen Bucks County, but became part of Northampton County when it was formedin 1752, and then Lehigh County which was created in 1812. The land lies rightup against Blue Mountain near Jacksonville, Pennsylvania, and today is stillowned by one of Jacob's descendants.Little is known about Jacob. He was apparently born about 1723, as his ageupon arrival in Philadelphia in 1741 was given as 18. His name appears on a listof Taxables taken from the assessment of Lynn Township in 1762. There weresix members in the family. His son, Frederick, appears on this list as anunmarried male.Jacob died on or before February 8, 1775. His wife has not been identified. Ahandwritten translation of his will from the original German to English was made