My gggggrandfather, Matthew Haning came to this country 2 Nov 1752. All records of him ( and he is well documented-- but not by me) as Black Dutch or Pennsylvania Dutch. Matthew was a Palatine German. The Palatines were from the Palatinate State in the old German Empire. Refugees from persecution many came to America and settled, especially in Pa. The definition of palatine, " of or pertaining to a palace, possessing royal privileges, as, a count or earl palatine; an officer of the imperial palace; A NATIVE OR INHABITANT OF THE PALATINATE. " From this definition "palatine" may refer to royalty or simply to persons residing in or natives of the Palatinate state - earls, counts and chimney sweeps alike. Pennsylvania Dutch refers to the High German dialect used by German colonist of the Mennonite faith and other German religious groups many of whom settled in Pa. Although none were from the Netherlands they were referred to as Dutch by the non-German speaking colonists who misunderstood and mispronounced the word "Deutsche". Pronounced like Doysch it sounds like Dutch but Deutsche means German. The Pa. Dutch handle was also liberally used to describe the other Germans in that general area. As to the "Black Dutch" reference it is likely that the term was used to describe the conservative black attire associated with the "Pa. Dutch" and which is still favored by many. The above is from "Matthew Haning (c 1730 - 1807) and Descendants". by the late James Leslie Haning Alice Moore