Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, LL. As we work through the Hans Peter Bibliography, it becomes apparent that many later writers used Pennypacker's material without questioning it. Pennypacker was clearly convinced that Hans Peter came from Krefeld. In his own words, "for thirty years I have been gradually gathering the original materials from over the world. His book was published in , long before we had computers, copy machines, fax machines, or the Internet. The scope of the material presented is astounding.
My comments here are based solely on this book. Governor Pennypacker published other material and I will endeavor to find and consider any additional information that bears on the question.
The book is, as of this writing, the earliest and the most widely-quoted source I have found for the traditional belief that Hans Peter Umstat came from Krefeld. It has now been proven that Hans Peter resided in Kriegsheim just prior to his departure to America and that his Germantown land purchase was made in Rotterdam Holland , not in Krefeld.
When one views his book as a whole, some patterns emerge that give us a reasonable explanation. It was not meant to be book about Hans Peter Umstat nor his beginnings. Pennypacker lists his own ancestry in the preface: "As it seemed to be a duty which could not be avoided, I have written the following history of the settlement of one of the most interesting of the American burghs. Not all of his ancestors were well-known, and he presumably focused on those individuals whose information he could find.
Logically it was those who came from Krefeld, as most of those listed did. The fact that the majority of the early Germantown residents not only were from Krefeld, but that they were also known to be Quakers both in Germantown and in Krefeld, apparently led him to simply assume that Hans Peter Umstat was also a Quaker. And he may have been correct in that assumption - Hans Peter Umstat may have converted to Quakerism either in Germany just prior to coming to the U.
