In 1746 Jacob Nissley received 101 acres of land...

On June 24, 1710, the 'Maria Hope' set sail...

Captain John Annis steered the good ship out of Gravesend and along the Thames River out towards to the open North Sea. Onboard were 94 souls (including crew) of which an estimated one third were Swiss Mennonites, among the thousands in London at the time who were fleeing from religious persecution in the Palatine region of Germany. Included on the ship's passenger list was John Funk (who's brother Henry would join him in the young English Colony 7 years later).

Please Note: The previous and the following section have been extracted from a blog titled 'Eric's Root's' by Eric Christensen, who referenced (with permission) 'My Anabaptist family, part 3', by Earl Herr. Earl compiled his work from 'The Earth is the Lord's' by John Ruth, p 157, 163 and from 'The Herrs and Lancaster County's Other First Mennonite Pioneers' by Mabel Burkholder. 

 "Quickly their ship hit another, and captain Annis was arrested. After resolution, they awaited a Russian convoy, which arrived July 13, and they set sail. But then a heavy storm broke the tall masts of several ships and they returned for repairs, and then again set sail July 20. They reached Newcastle July 24 where they were joined by another ship heading for Carolina. Again a storm, and at dusk they saw large warships in the distance – seven, all with the French flags. But then a heavy fog came, obscuring vision, and lasted three days. They sailed westward and no longer saw the French warships. 

The morning of July 30 was their last view of land, the Orkneys. They were now five small ships – one going to New England, one to Carolina, one to Jamaica, one to Guiana, and the Maria Hope to Philadelphia. The other ships were armed, but Maria Hope was unarmed. 

August 3 they saw whales. On August 8-9 the ships heading for Jamaica and Guiana turned southward. On August 14 the last one accompanying them turned toward New England. Another storm and sails were lowered. With the high waves, the ship rudder had to be fastened, with two days of continued winds, but then the storm ceased. The sailors started fishing and several dolphins were caught. On September 2 they saw "flying fish" and again saw whales. From September 10 to 12, the winds blew the wrong way. On September 12 the last and best wind provided the fastest sailing at nine miles per hour. 

On September 16 land was sighted. 

The Mennonites had safely arrived in America."