Governor William Bull's Letter
to
William Pitt, Secretary of State
Requesting Pardons
for
Hannah Wieber, John Geiger, & Jacob Bourghardt
26th April 1761
Charles Town, South Carolina
Received 23 July 1761
Compiled by Brenda Helen Keck Reed
This letter was generously provided by Gene Jeffries as "working papers" and not as a quotable source as taken from the British Public Records Office, America and West Indies, Volume 73, page 80, Charles Town, South Carolina, 26th April 1761. This researcher has written to the South Carolina Archives for a copy of this letter and will confirm the accuracy once received. There are differences in spellings and grammar representative of the 18th century and between Germans and the English.
"Sir,
"I am to acquaint you that at the last General Sessions of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, Assize and General Goal delivery held at Charles Town, Jacob Weiber, Hannah Wieber, John Geiger and Jacob Bourghart were tried and found guilty of murder, and received sentence of deaths on the thirty first of March last, and in pursuance thereof Jacob Weiber was executed. I thought Hannah Wieber, John Geiger and Jacob Bourghart, who acted by his commands, to be objects of His Majesty's mercy and therefore reprieved them till His Majesty's pleasure therein shall be known. I beg leave to inform you of the nature of their ence. In the remote part of the Province beyond the Congarees, where there is no Dutch Minister, these ignorant Germans from a pious desire of having some religion had unhappily formed a Sect of Enthusiasts. Jacob Weiber who unpiously called himself the most High, pronouced to them that Smith Pieter, the person murdered, who it seems differed with him in some points of doctrine, was the old Serpent, and unless he was put to death, the World could not be saved. The deluded people immediately seized Smith Pieter and with all the rage of religious perseution beat him to death without remorse.
"In order to put a stop to this Goil, I thought it necessary that one, the Chief, should suffer, and as Public Justice is thereby satisfied for the blood of Murder, and as Hannah Wieber, John Geiger and Jacob Burghart each with numerous Families, bear the character of being long known, orderly and industrious to recommend them as Objects worthy His Majesty's most gracious Pardon. I must further take the liberty of representing to you, that as they are very poor, they have no Friend but your Compassion to solicit for their Pardon, no money to defray the expense of issuing this Act of Royal Grace through the usual Channel particular persons, and stand no chance of receiving this Benefit, if they shall fortunately be thought worthy of it, but by being inserted in some General Pardon.
"I have the Honor to to be with the greatest respect,
Sir,
Your most humble servant
William Bull
To the Right Humble
William Pitt Esq., one of
His Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State
Received 23 July [1761]"
William Pitt, Esquire, received the above letter on 23 July 1761. At this time this researcher has not yet located Pitt's answer to the request for Pardons. The South Carolina Gazette, 26 April 1761, makes mention that Hannah Weber, John Geiger, and Jacob Bourghart were released from prison on temporary reprieve.
William Bull, in the above letter, makes no mention of a second murder victim, Michael Hentz (Hans), who was named in the article from the South Carolina Gazette. Nor does William Bull make any mention of a third murder victim, "the godless colored preacher named Dauber" (or Dubard), as mentioned in Reverend Henry Melchior Muhlenberg's Journals of October 1774.
Were there three murder victims?
What were the laws of the day regarding prosecuting someone for killing a runaway slave?
Who was Michael (Hans) Hentz?
Did he have a family?
Who was Frederick Dauber or Dubard?
Was he a runaway slave?
Did he have a family?
Was there a man named Hans Peter Schmidt or Peter Schmidt living in the Backcountry during this period?
If so, did he come to the Backcountry from Pennsylvania?
Could Peter Schmidt and John George Smithpeter (Schmidtpeter) have been mistaken or identified as being one and the same person?
Did the German-Swiss settlers who came to be known as Weberites serve the good of the Saxe Gotha community and other settlers in the Backcountry? How?
Was Jacob Weber delusional or psychotic by 20th century standards?
Were the Weberites victims of their time and station in life?
Of misunderstanding?
Of the English?
Who are the descendants of Jacob and Hannah Weber, John Geiger, and Jacob Boughardt? What became of their families?
Your insights and contributions to this sight will be welcome and appreciated. Thank you for your interest.
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Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. Brenda Helen Keck Reed.
6276 Acacia Avenue Oakland, CA 94618-1850
