I'm putting together class notes for my pretzel rant and I found another BS source. I have found the following line from multiple sources: "there is a story that in 1652 a settler named Jochem Wessel was arrested for using good flour to make pretzels to sell to the Indians at a time when his white neighbors were eating bran flour."
I found the court records regarding Jochem and it is a perfect example of sloppy research. Jochem was a baker in 17th century Beverwyck, which is near modern day Albany, NY. He was in court in 1652. And 1653. And 1654. But it does not appear that he had anything to do with pretzels. No. He was called into court multiple times as both a witness for allegations against other people and for himself being rude, insulting, violent, as well as a cheat: He owed numerous people money or goods, and there is even a record that he tried to take possession of someone else's house.
What does this have to do with pretzels? Well, on the same court records we find:
Ordinary Session, Tuesday, March 4, 1653: A petition was read from the respective bakers in Beverwyck, requesting mitigation of the ordinance concerning the baking of white bread, pretzel and cookies to be sold to the Indians. Resolved to refer the petitioners to the ordinance
And then, later in the record:
Delivered this day to the honorable gentlemen and signed by all members of this court. After some verbal questions had been asked of their honors, orders were given to put them into writing and to deliver [the petition] to their honors, which was done, the contents or tenor being as follows:
To the Hon. Director General Peter Stuyvesant and the Hon. Nicasius Sille
Upon the complaint of the burghers here, the petitioners find and have daily experienced that the bakers do not act in good faith in the matter of baking bread for the burghers, but bolt the flour from the meal and sell it greatly to their profit to the savages for the baking of sweet cake, whit bread, cookies and pretzels, so that the burghers must buy and get largely bran for their money, and even then the bread is frequently found to be short of weight, and they ask one guilders, yes, as much as 24 stivers for such poor and short-weight baked bread. Which the petitioners in the interest of this community have thought it necessary to bring to your honors' attention, in order that in the future your honors may provide herein as you shall see fit, in the interest of the community here and escpeially of the plain and common people, who can not bake themselves, so that if this continues the Christians must eat the bran while the savages eat the flour; [praying therefore] that a proper weight and a price for the sale of proper bread may be set
Your honors obedient and faithful servants, the magistrates of the court of Fort Orange and Beverwyck. Fort Orange, this 17th of March 1654
What does this have to do with Jochem Becker? Well, the next court entry reads:
Tuesday, March 31, 1654: Commissary Dyckman, plaintiff, against Jochem Becker and Jacob Willemsz de Wolff, defendants, on account of assault and battery by Jochem Becker upon Jacob Willemsz de Wolff at his house on the last of February preceding.
The court having heard the statements of both sides and also examined the evidence, it is resolved to condemn Jochem Becker to pay a fine of thirty guilders to the officer here within the space of forty-eight hours, on pain of execution and to order the aforesaid Becker, as it done hereby, to leave his neighbor, the aforesaid Jacob Willemsz, and all others henceforth unmoloested and in peace, on pain of arbitrary correction.
The next item (5/5/1654)was that Jochem shot someone's dog.
Holy crap. How can one poorly presented piece of information can miss the mark so bad? Why even mention Jochem at all? The quote could just have been about the court record of the bakers of Fort Orange and Beverwyck. Why even mention Jochem Becker who appeared to be a douche-canoe. His name shows up about 40 times in a ten year period. If you want to mention pretzels in colonial America, great, use this source, but don't bring Jochem into it unless you want to pour through years of criminal behavior.... It's a wonder how he got any baking done.
Here is the source material in case anyone is interested in writing about Jochem.Here is the source material in case anyone is interested in writing about Jochem.
