In a message dated 4/20/2004 7:31:53 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Kouroo@xxxxxxxxx quotes Mike: >The Quakers in Pennsylvania would hire non-Quakers to protect them from Indians (kill them, that is) That's not necessarily true. Here are some of the spilled beans. My surname Yost exists almost exclusively in the US, as it was a transliteration of Jost given to immigrants before 1810. My ancestors settled in Pennsylvania in pre-Revolutionary War times. The first German immigration of which a Yost family record survives is of Mennonites, who were often called "German Quakers." This group landed at Philadelphia on 20 August 1683 and on a second ship 6 October 1683. They were largely tradespeople and farmers, and several records exist of them fighting off (or surviving) "Indian attacks" in areas of southeastern Pennsylvania. It's highly unlikely that Penn paid these people to defend themselves. But the land grants and tolerance that William Penn offered also drew a bunch of religious groups to PA, who probably had varying beliefs regarding self-defense, including: the Tunkers, Labadists, New Born, New Mooners, Separatists, Zion's Brueder, Ronsdorfer, Inspired Quietists, Gichtellians, Depellians, Mountain Men, River Brethren, Brinser Brethren, The Society of Women in the Wilderness, and the Amish. Eric ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html