Redemptioners
Redemptioners, a term used to denote immigrants to the United States who "redeemed" their fare by working for it upon arrival. Usually, upon landing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they were auctioned off. An adult usually had to work four or five years to pay off the debt, and a child until he reached the age of 21. Many Mennonites came to America as redemptioners.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe; Schneider, 1913-1967: v. III, 438.
Smith, C. Henry. The Story of the Mennonites. Newton, 1950: 543 f.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 263-264. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.
©1996-2013 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.
MLA style: Crous, Ernst. "Redemptioners." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 18 May 2013. http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/redemptioners.
APA style: Crous, Ernst. (1959). Redemptioners. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 May 2013, from http://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/redemptioners.
