Page:The Life and Works of Christopher Dock.djvu/17



To the sturdy German stock that came to the Colony of Pennsylvania in the first half of the eighteenth century we are indebted for more of the initial influences that have made for the progress and prestige of our American civilization than many historians record or know. By a strange perversity they have accepted one from another the traditional misconception of these people for which Benjamin Franklin and Provost William Smith are largely responsible. It is the exception, not the rule, to find among historians and chroniclers, a rare spirit, imbued with insight and sympathy, who patiently investigates the actual conditions of this Pennsylvania-German civilization and records its virtues as well as its frailties. Such a rare and gifted historian is the Honorable Samuel W. Pennypacker, ex-Governor of the Commonwealth and President of its Historical Society.

To Governor Pennypacker many of the younger men, who love, as he does, the great Commonwealth, are indebted for inspiration, guidance and knowledge concerning life in Colonial Pennsylvania. To him the writer gratefully acknowledges his indebtedness for a first acquaintance and for many facts that have to do with the simple but significant life and work of Pennsylvania's pioneer