The Vestry Book of Blisland (Blissland) Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1721-1786

This is the story of the famous Tulpehocken settlement in Berks County, northwest of Philadelphia, which was spearheaded by John Conrad Weiser (1696-1760). Just as they had in New York, the Tulpehocken Palatines had to negotiate with the Proprietors of Pennsylvania and the indigenous population before they would be able to take control of their lands. The author discusses this in detail, while other chapters describe the Palatine style of settlement and their flourishing farms, efforts to construct the first churches and schools, Indian wars, and the founding of towns and cities, such as Wernersville, Sheridan, Myerstown, Lebanon and Rehrersburg. Special consideration is given to the lives and homesteads of the Palatine patriarchs Weiser, Daniel Steinmetz, Isaac Levan, John Caspar Stoever, Reverend Tobias Wagner, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, and others.