Person:Johann Dracker (1)

Regarding the change of surname from Dracker to Trauger, David L. Trauger writes in the Newsletter of the Bucks County Genealogical Society, Vol XII, No. 2, that "we know that Christian could not write based on several sources. Like many other German immigrants, Christian marked an X between his given name and surname on the debarkation manifest....signifying that he could not write and that the Ship's Captain had written the name as he understood it. This is conjecture .......Christian left Germany as a 'Dracker' and arrived in America as a 'Trauger'."

In the "Trauger Genealogy" by David L. Trauger and William H. Oberholtzer, 1998, they write, "(Johann) Christian and (his brother) Ludwig were part of the Third Wave of Germans immigrating to Pensylvania. Living in Bickenbach, they were in close proximity to the Rhine River, the major transportation artery used by German emigrants.....the journey to American comprised three parts and required 6 months amid miserable hardships...the first part, and by no means the easiest, was traversing down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, Holland. The Rhine boats carrying the emigrants passed a total of 26 custom houses...The trip down the Rhine took 4 to 6 weeks......The second stage of the journey was by ship from Rotterdam to one of the British ports....(Johann) Christian's port of call was Leith, Scotland, aboard the ship Restauration.....Unless the ships had a good wind, the often sailed 8 to 12 weeks before reaching Philidelphia...The passengers, densely packed without proper food and water, were soon subjected to all sorts of diseases, such as dysentery, scurvy, typhoid and smallpox.....On every ship, more than a few, especially children, died. When Delaware Bay was reached and Phildelphia was sighted, another delay occurred.....(for those passengers who could not pay for their freight) Buyers came on board to make their choice among the immigrants, who bargained with the buyers for a specified number of years and days (of indentured service). Apparently, the period of (Johann's) indentured servitude was relatively brief...."

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} "Trauger Family History Revisited", David L Trauger, Bucks County Genealogical Society Newsletter, Doylestown,.
2. ↑ The Trauger Genealogy, 1724 to 1998 by David L. Trauger and William H. Oberholtzer, Published by The Trauger F.
3. ↑ DAR Patriot Index, dated 12 Jan 2005.