Time and distance are out of place here
Elfreth's Alley is a historic street in Philadelphia, dating back to 1703. The 32 quaint houses that line the street were built between 1703 and 1836, and have been restored or preserved in all their early-American charm. Elfreth's is a National Historic Landmark, and a visit is often on the agenda of any Old City tourist, along with the nearby Betsy Ross House and Christ Church burial ground.
We did not know that day that we were walking in the very footsteps of our ancestors.
In late colonial Philadelphia, the area around Elfreth's was the heart of a thriving German-speaking community. Bounded by the dock yards on the Delaware to the east and 5th street to the west, the area was crossed by Sassafras Street (now Race), Cherry Street, Mulberry Street, Arch Street and Market Street, with numerous alleys and lanes filling in the grid including Elfreth's Alley, one of the only survivors of a vastly changed streetscape.
This was the home to the first German Lutheran community in America (Germantown was settled by Pietist groups, Quakers and Mennonites). The first German Lutheran congregation formed here and built St. Michael's on Cherry Street in 1743, and later Zion Church just down the road in 1766, to accommodate the growing congregation. St. Michael's and Zion, or Old Zion as the joint congregation was later known, figures prominently in late colonial and early American history. It was here in 1791 that the memorial services for Benjamin Franklin were held, and in 1799 that the memorial service for General George Washington was held. Learn more at the Old Zion blog: http://oldzionhistory.blogspot.com/
German merchants, innkeepers, and craftsmen filled the narrow homes that lined these streets. They served as an informal welcoming committee for the German-speaking Palatines who were pouring off the boats in great numbers from 1720 to 1770, tired and hungry from their journeys. Here, fortunate new arrivals could learn the lay of the land or find work to pad their pockets before journeying further inland in search of their new homes. Less fortunates might meet their new masters here, as they signed "redemptioner" or indenture contracts to work off the cost of their voyage.
During their first years in the colonies, Georg and Barbara Paul lived right here, in this very neighborhood. Barbara served her 5 year indenture with the furrier Andreas Brechel on 3rd Street. Georg likely worked for Georg Eppele at his Inn at 113 Sassafras Street. After Barbara's indenture ended, they married at St. Michael's on July 1, 1762. Over the next 6 years, Georg and Barbara welcomed 4 sons whose baptism's are recorded in the ledgers of St. Michael's, including Valentin "Falty" Paul, the founder of our Paul family in Northumberland County. One son, young George, died as a toddler and was buried in the church graveyard located across Cherry Street at that time.
We don't know exactly when or why the young Paul family chose to leave Philadelphia behind and head for greener pastures in the northern parts of then Philadelphia county, now the area where Montgomery, Lehigh, Bucks and Berks Counties all meet. Perhaps the occupation of Philadelphia by British Troops in 1777 drove them out, or maybe Georg, like many Germans, was drawn by the thought of owning land of his own. But once they turned their backs on the city, it would be 150 years before our Paul's would once again walk the streets of Philadelphia, their first home in America.
