The Pennsylvania Dutch are, in fact, German and Swiss. The Dutch part came about as a misunderstanding of the word Deutsch, which is German for, well, German. The Pennsylvania Dutch settled in the colony in the early 1700s. They came mainly from the Palatine region of Germany, along the Rhine. William Penn was actively seeking colonists for his "holy experiment" and found ready takers in this region. Many of those who came were followers of Jacob Menno and became known as Mennonites.

FUNK and WAGNALLS DICTIONARY 1977 "Descendents of immigrants from SW Germany and from Switzerland, who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centures. The language spoken by these people a High German dialect with an ad-mixture of English." I remember learning that in PA school many years ago. Carol S. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan McFeatters" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2004 3:12 PM Subject: Re: [PITTSBURGH] Re: Ann and Thomas...RE surnames...... > The Pennsylvania Dutch are, in fact, German and Swiss. The Dutch part > came about as a misunderstanding of the word Deutsch, which is German > for, well, German. > > The Pennsylvania Dutch settled in the colony in the early 1700s. They > came mainly from the Palatine region of Germany, along the Rhine. > William Penn was actively seeking colonists for his "holy experiment" > and found ready takers in this region. Many of those who came were > followers of Jacob Menno and became known as Mennonites. > > > ==== PA-PITTSBURGH Mailing List ==== > If you need to contact the listowner, send an email to Sue* at: > [email protected] > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >