Here is what Charles Posner wrote about Wilhelm: “Wilhelm Kramer (Cramer, Crammer, Krämer, Crämer) 1665-1710.  Born in Valley, Miesbach in the imperial county of Hoenwaldeck probably a subsistence farmer (peasant) married to Anna Maria (no surname yet) 1673-1743 from the Duchy of Westphalia.  They were Palatine refugees who made their way up the Rhine to Rotterdam where they were transported to an encampment outside London and eventually shipped to New York for two years of servitude.  Wilhelm died probably of typhus on board at the age of 45.  Anna Maria arrived with six children the eldest of whom was Jurgen.”

“Like most of the Palatine refugees, they arrived with no resources.  Indeed, Wilhelm Kramer died in passage and Wilhelm's widow landed in New York with seven children in tow, no knowledge of English and no contacts.  Almost all of her children died before she did.  She was still alive when Matthias Cramer was born.”