Our story begins in the middle of the 18th century. But let us 
speculate and go back another 1100 years into early European history. 
In the 7th century, a strong Slavic tribe from the East, known as the 
Wends, drove into that part of Germany which lay between the Elbe and 
Oder rivers. Tribal wars lasted for centuries. The situation stabil-
ized somewhat by the 12th and 13th centuries when remnants of the 
Wends were largely absorbed by German tribes. We find on the map 
today several towns near Dresden with "itz" endings. We have infor-
mation of a small town near Pirna named Bonnewitz. Its history began 
in 1378. It was laid out in Wendish fashion and had but few families.

         I had wondered for a long time exactly what "Wendish fashion" means and on Saturday June 6, 2001 I met a very nice older lady from Austria who explained it to me. She said that it means that they built their villages on hills. They had two intersecting streets, usually perpendicular and the other streets formed circles around the intersection in the center.

Bonnewitz, Sachen, Germany 51° N, 13° E

This is a map of present day Bonnewitz that I obtained at MapBlast.com. It does not look much like she described, however, that diamond shape may have once been circular and the roads may have intersected in the middle. More research is needed.

    The Rectory at Coburg has a few Pannewitz or Bonnewitz records 
dated 1754 - 1817. Mention is made in Part 4 of this book of a David 
Bonnawitz who was born at Coburg and who married at New York in 1854. 
Also a Henry Bonnewitz who was born at Hamburg in 1824 and came to New 
York. It appears that our family was few in numbers and was scattered, 
in Germany as in America.
    As will be seen in this book, nearly all Bonawitz and Bonewitz 
families in America descended from Adam and Juliana Bonnawitz of 
Heidelberg, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Others, not so related, are 
listed in Part 4 of this book. It is likely that Adam came over in 
1749. Some arrival records have been lost. It is not known if he 
was married when he arrived. He contributed to the St. Daniel's 
Church in the 1753-1754 period and was a taxpayer in 1754.
    William Penn, as owner of Pennsylvania, had encouraged immigrants 
from Germany for he knew them to be honest and industrious. There 
was much religious dissension in the German States, as some rulers 
were Catholic and some were Protestant. Warfare was frequent and 
sometimes the land was laid bare. Sometimes there was famine. 
Pennsylvania was a land of promise to many Germans and some 50,000 
of them left their homes for America in the 18th century.
    The crossing was not easy. Sailing vessels made one round trip 
a year. After picking up passengers along the Rhine, the vessels 
stopped at Rotterdam, Holland or Cowes, England to get provisions 
for the trip. To get favorable winds, the voyages usually began in 
summer, and lasted 10 to 12 weeks. Disease sometimes broke out on 
a vessel. Due to disease and hazards of the sea, perhaps 40% of the 
50,000 people who left Europe never saw America. Some came without 
money and were bound out to Philadelphians for stated lengths of 
time in order to pay off the sailing masters.