This article is part of our series “German Immigrants.” Click here for a full listing of all articles in the series.
By October 1608, the English colonists at Jamestown had spent more than a year in a desperate struggle for survival. With food and water running perilously low, disease rampant, and conflicts with Native Americans a constant threat, their only hope depended on the arrival of resupply ships. When the Mary and Margaret finally appeared on the horizon, the ship carried not only desperately needed provisions, but also a group of passengers who would quietly shape the future of what would become the United States - the first documented German immigrants in America.
Eight Germans arrived at Jamestown in the fall of 1608: five unnamed glassmakers and three carpenters - Adam, Franz, and Samuel - accompanied by several Poles. These men had been contracted by the London Company, the Jamestown settlement’s owner, to produce pitch, tar, glass, wood paneling, and soap ashes [1].
Why Glassmakers, and why Germans?
At first glance, it might seem odd that an English colony struggling for survival would prioritize the production of what might be considered non-essential goods by foreign workers. However, the London Company’s primary goal was economic: to produce materials that were difficult to manufacture at home and expensive to import.
Among these, glass stood out. England had long struggled to match German expertise in glassmaking, largely due to a shortage of firewood needed to heat the kilns to the high temperatures required for melting glass. In the vast forests of America, the London Company saw a seemingly endless supply of fuel that could help England reduce its reliance on glass imports. To test this potential, they hired five expert glassmakers from Germany and sent them to Jamestown, hoping to lay the foundation for a thriving glass industry [2].
When the Germans arrived in Jamestown, the settlement was in dire straits. Scores had perished, food was scarce, and additional mouths to feed presented an even larger challenge for the settlement’s leader, Captain John Smith. Commenting on their arrival, Smith noted:
“As for the hiring of the Poles and the Dutchmen [3] to make Pitch, Tar, Glass, Paneling, and Soap Ashes, when the country is replenished with people and necessaries, would have done well, but to send them and seventy more without victuals [food and provisions] to work, was not so well advised nor considered of as it should have been” [4].
The Germans Get to Work
Despite his concerns, Smith was impressed with the Germans’ work ethic. He wrote that many of the other colonists were “adventurers that never did know what a day’s work was, except for the Dutchmen and the Poles and some dozen other. For all the rest were poor Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-Men, libertines, and such like, ten times more fit to spoyle a Commonwealth, than either to begin one or help maintain one” [5].
The Jamestown settlement, built on a peninsula in the James River, was far from ideal for initiating glass production, let alone establishing a colony. The Native Americans never permanently inhabited the peninsula due to its swampy conditions, mosquito infestation, brackish non-potable water, sandy soil unsuitable for crops, and limited hunting options.
Recognizing the need for a better location to support their work, the German glassmakers constructed a glass house about one mile away from James Fort on the mainland. Here they had easy access to the vast Virginia forests that would supply fuel for the kilns. They built a 37x50 foot wooden building (probably with the help of the German carpenters), complete with four kilns for preheating, working, cooling the glass, and firing melting pots [6].
The German glassmakers worked tirelessly in 1608, producing several samples of glass to export back to England. However, their efforts were short-lived. The winter of 1609, known as the “Starving Time,” decimated the colony. Out of 500 colonists, only 60 survived. When re-supply ships finally arrived in the spring of 1610, there is no evidence that glass production restarted, and there is no record of the German glassmakers after this time, suggesting they likely perished during the Starving Time [7].
The Legacy of the First German Immigrants
Although their contribution was brief, the impact of these nameless Germans should not be understated. Constructing the kilns from scratch required a high level of technical and engineering expertise, making the glasshouse they built arguably the first factory on the continent. While their efforts did not succeed in the long term, these German immigrants laid the foundation of industrial production in America.
Archaeologists at Jamestown have excavated the remains of the kilns, as well as pieces of glass produced by the German artisans, all of which are displayed at the site and maintained by the National Park Service. They also have pamphlets and a historical marker that explain the contributions of these German immigrants.
Next to the ruins of the original kilns, the National Park Service has built a re-creation glasshouse, complete with working kilns and glass artisans. Instead of using wood as fuel, the modern kilns use natural gas, and the artisans use more modern tools and methods that the German immigrants would not have recognized.
Nevertheless, when visitors purchase glass items in the glasshouse gift shop, they hold in their hands a tangible piece of the legacy left by the first German immigrants in America.
Achtung! Land in Sicht!
Stay tuned for our next article in the German Immigrants series: "Germans in Jamestown, Part II: Murder Mystery" - the things they don’t tell you in Disney’s Pocahontas.
Sources & Remarks
[1] Grassl, Gary. Who Were the First German Glassmakers in America? & Tolzmann, Don Heinrich. “The German-American Experience,” Humanity Books, 2000. 31-33.
[2] Ibid & National Park Service
[3] It was very common at the time for English-speakers to call Germans “Dutchmen,” since Germans referred to themselves as deutsch, and English speakers confused the two terms.
[4] Smith, John. “The General Historie of Virginia, New England and The Summer Isles.” Accessed at Project Gutenberg.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Grassl.
[7] Ibid & Smithsonian Magazine.
Very informative, thank you!