Thones Dennis Kunders (c. 1654 – September 1729,

Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is ab ...

) was an early settler of colonial

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He was born in Gladbach,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and was a citizen of

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

. A dyer by trade, he was the head of one of the first 13 German families who sailed aboard the ship ''Concord'' to arrive in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania, on 6 October 1683, beginning the German immigration to America. Kunders later called himself Anthony Conrads and still later Cunard, and was also called Dennis Conrad. At Kunders's house in Germantown were held the first German religious services in America, attended by both Mennonites and Quakers, including Pennsylvania proprietor

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

. On February 18, 1688, the first protest against slavery in the New World was drafted in Kunders's house. The protest, written by

Francis Daniel Pastorius Francis Daniel Pastorius (September 26, 1651) was a German born educator, lawyer, poet, and public official. He was the founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, now part of Philadelphia, the first permanent German-American settlement and the gatewa ...

and signed also by Garrett Henrich, Abraham Up den Graef, and Derick Up de graeff, opposed the importation, sale, and ownership of slaves. When Germantown was granted a charter by Penn in 1689, Kunders was appointed one of the first burgesses. Today, a historical marker stands at the site of his Germantown house.

References

Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online
at USHistory.org *''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'', Historical Society of Pennsylvania, v. 4, 1880 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunders, Thomas People from Philadelphia German emigrants to the United States Year of birth uncertain 1729 deaths