Magdalena - Cara Dunkelberger

“I’m cold and hungry. Our trees are dead. Animals and birds froze to death.”

That was part of a 1709 entry in young Magdalena’s diary.

From her loft bed, she overheard her father below.

“Dearest Susannah, we have to go. We’ll starve here! We have to sell our land and sell the only cow and horse we still have.” 

Mami was crying softly.

Dawdi continued, “Our plows, tools, and spinning wheel will fetch some money, too. Then we can pay the prince’s departure tax and get a boat to Rotterdam.”

The historically cold winter had devastated not only their small farm near the Rhine River but a large area of Europe as well.

Magdalena’s peasant family embarked with many others on a decades-long trek to England, the Hudson River Valley, the Mohawk River Valley, the Susquehanna River, and Pennsylvania. They interacted with people of other cultures, including Mohawks. 

At times, Magdalena’s sorrows and hardships seemed insurmountable, but she never lost hope of someday having her own family and farm. Did she realize her dream?

Magdalena is based on factual evidence in the lives of Germanic immigrants who left their farms in 1709. Magdalena’s friend Conrad Weiser was a historic figure who became a famous Indian interpreter, having lived a year with a Mohawk family.