This description relates to ancestors noted as “Palatine Immigrant.”
Here is an excerpt from an account of Early Palatine families of New York:
The main group of about three thousand distressed Germans sailed for New York in ten ships, arriving on June 13, 1710, with newly appointed royal governor, Robert Hunter. The passengers experienced much sickness during the voyage, and nearly five hundred were lost at sea. Upon arrival they were quarantined for several months on Nutten (now Governor’s) Island due to typhus on board. Thus they could not begin work until the spring of 1711…
In the spring of 1711 they began work. Nearly one hundred thousand trees were felled and prepared. Roads were constructed to bring tar to the banks of the river. Coopers made barrels and cauldrons were made ready. However, the work did not prosper. Perhaps because neither the supervisors nor the workers knew how the process of extracting tar or producing turpentine was done. Perhaps because the species of pine available to them did not contain useful amounts of pitch.
By the autumn of 1712 Hunter could no longer afford the expense and the Germans were left to fend for themselves, still in debt to the crown. Disgusted, they left for the land along the Schoharie Creek, which they claimed had been promised to them by Queen Anne.
The life of Palatine Germans (Wikipedia) was difficult with promises not kept.
Resources
Early Palatine Families of New York by Mirian S. Henry, New England Historic Genealogical Society