Entry #40
It is not my intention to write the definitive history of Johann Michael Sigmund. My mother-in-law’s cousin, Nancy Schanes has done most of the research on the Sigmund family and I gratefully acknowledge her work. I met Nancy this past summer and I immediately felt the bond that can develop between two people who are passionate about family history and who love unraveling the mysteries of the past. I learned that we both believe that there are ancestors who want to be found. I won’t go into that here, but Nancy and I spent hours swapping stories of strange coincidences that led our research in the right direction.
Johann Michael Sigmund was the founder of my mother-in-law’s Sigmund line in the Americas. Sigmund was her maiden name. Michael was born in Wieblingen near Heidelburg in December 1713 to Jakob Sigmund and Anna Margaretha Lay Sigmund. The Sigmund family was involved in farming grapes for the wine trade.
Johann Michel Sigmund’s story could inspire a television docudrama. In May 1731 he and other Palentines boarded the Ship Love and Unity in Rotterdam, Netherlands, bound for Philadelphia in the Colony of Pennsylvania. If ever a ship were misnamed, it was the Love and Unity. One hundred of 150 people aboard the Love and Unity perished at sea due to an excessively long voyage and possible criminal acts by the Master of the ship, Jacob Lobb. Food was rationed and passengers resorted to eating rats. The surviving passengers accused Jacob Lobb of holding them offshore in order to extort money and possessions from them in return for food and water. Eventually, the passengers mutinied and were finally rescued off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in New England. Here is one account of their story:
Several of the passengers accused Jacob Lobb of murder and extreme cruelty, and he was held for trial in Bosyton. Further accounts of the appeal can be read read here. Not only did the Palentine accusers lose their case, but they were charged to pay court costs. A newspaper account from the Boston Gazette of June 5, 1732, covers the outcome of the trial.
News Account of Jacob Lobb’s Trial
In retaliation, Jacob Lobb, brought charges against the Palentine passengers in September 1732. 
Johann Michel Sigmund finally arrived in Philadelphia on the Norris from Boston on 15 May 1732. It took him almost exactly a year to arrive at his original destination.
Valentine Westheber, one of the 48 survivors of the Love & Unity, was my 5th gr-grandfather. I’ve been communicating with Nancy Schanes of the Sigmund descendants and Gene Swackhamer of the Schwackheimer descendants and would love to communicate with any Jungman descendant. Please write to Sharon Beach at duke7547@gmail.com. Thank you.
Sharon, it is always interesting to hear about descendants of other survivors. Thanks for posting. I will probably expand on this post sometime in 2016. (Sorry for not responding sooner. I thought I had…)
My husband is a direct relative of Kaspar Schurk (Caspar Shirk), and we live in Shirksville, PA where he settled. He lost his wife and at least one child during the voyage.
Denise, thanks for leaving a comment. Feel free to post more about Kaspar Shurk.
I am a direct relative of Kaspar Schirk (Caspar Shirk) and would like to communicate with other families related to Casper…. I am also looking for a copy of the book to buy Voyage of the Love and Unity by Nancy Schanes
I am a desc of Casper Shirk through his son Andrew and grandson David. Would be happy to correspond and share what I have. Have been researching all my lines for many years but havent spent too much time on the Shirk line (it was fairly easy to trace). My 4th great grandmother Malinda Shirk Whitlock (1812-1878) was daughter of the aforementioned David Shirk.
I’m a little late to the party, but I am also a descendant of Casper Shirk, through his son Casper, J. I will be Travelling to Mass. next week and I may try to do some more research while I’m there.
The Palatines’ Appeal. Published in the Pennsylvania Gazette 15 February 1732.
http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-01-02-0072
Thanks, Paul. I do have this link embedded in the body of the story. I guess it isn’t obvious, though, so thanks for sharing!
Is there a passenger list?
Hi. I tried to find an original copy of the passenger list for the Love and Unity and I didn’t immediately find one. There is one for the Norris and it can be found here.
I tried to phone Love and Unity researcher Nancy Schanes. Sadly, I learned that she passed away last fall.
I am also related to Casper Shirk. I did not know that there was a book titled Voyage of the Love and Unity. Has anyone been able to find this book and how to obtain it. I wanted to read it and to see if it had a picture on what the ship would look like.
Kevin
Kevin,
The book was written by Nancy Schanes. I saw it once when I visited her. It was not a long book and I don’t recall there being a picture of the ship. I doubt there was a painting or drawing of the Love and Unity. At best, I think you could research what types of sailing ships were likely to have been used in 1732. The book, “The Voyage of the Love and Unity,” was self-published by Nancy Schanes and is now out of print and Nancy has passed away. It is available in a few libraries.
Cheryl