First, the French!
The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS), previously known as the German Reformed Church, just celebrated 300 years of existence. But its roots and origins go deeper.
Before the history of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) really began, a group of Huguenots tried to start a colony in Florida. The Huguenots were Reformed Christians from France, some of whom were chased into Germany where they became part of the German Reformed Church.
Some of them made the attempt, in 1562-1568, to establish a colony in Florida. This endeavor seems to have been motivated by a desire for adventure and the expectation of finding gold nuggets scattered on the trails in Florida. This group brought no farmers and seemed to think food would be easy to find. They kidnapped an Indian chief in order to ransom him for food, but this led to a rebellion. The Spanish also disapproved and attacked their colony. A few eventually made it back to Germany by way of England.
Fleeing War and Famine
There was another attempt between 1708-1709. The French war against Germany resulted in the destruction of houses, churches, towns, and the loss of many lives in the Palatinate. A hard winter that caused much damage to fruit trees and grapevines made things worse. A number of Palatines fled down the Rhine River to the Netherlands. There was no room for them, so they were sent on to England, where there was no work. Queen Anne sent 500 to Ireland, where they were not welcome.
Read the full article at: https://rcus.org/article/the-day-of-small-things-how-the-rcus-began/
