Willie Martin, past president of the Germanna Foundation, passed away on August 23rd. A direct descendant of John Joseph Martin through his maternal Clarke family of Stevensburg in Culpeper County, Willie was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Germanna Foundation on November 5, 1957 (Willie’s father, T.I. Martin, mayor of Culpeper, was elected to […]
Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition Ride Reenactment
(Dale Duvall/Culpeper Times) Virginia Colonial history will be re-visited as horseback riders from across the United States gather to re-enact Colonial Governor Alexander Spotswood’s Transmontaine Expedition up and over the then imposing Blue Ridge Mountains. It was 300 years ago that this expedition paved the way and began the never ending westward expansion of America. Starting […]
Jump into our gene pool!
August is a great time to jump into our gene pool! FamilyTreeDNA is running a sale on their Family Finder test kit for $69.00 (regularly $99.00) “All of our DNA tests are designed to deliver superior results with the most advanced technology to tackle any genetic genealogy challenge. Plus, our new parental phasing tool allows […]
Trustee Jörg Becker, 1955-2016
The Germanna Foundation announces with regret the death of trustee Jörg Becker of Siegen-Eisern, Germany on 25 July following a courageous battle with cancer. Hundreds of Germanna members knew Jörg from having enjoyed the walking tour he led each year of his ancestral village of Eisern on one of the Germany trips, or from his […]
Thanks Virginia Commonwealth University
We treated Dr. Bernard Means and his VCU archaeology field school students to a pizza party picnic at the Fort Germanna/Enchanted Castle excavation site on Thursday, July 28th – the final day of VCU’s field work at Germanna this summer. Our seasonal staff, under the direction of Germanna’s archaeologist, Eric Larsen, Ph.D., and this season’s […]
I Dig Germanna Archaeology Workshop
Craig Wolford (center right) and Gil Kenner (center left) received their certificates of completion, trowels, and “I Dig Germanna” T-shirts for successfully completing our first I Dig Germanna Archaeology Workshop 18-20 July from Dr. Eric Larsen, Germanna staff archaeologist (l) and Germanna COO Steve Hein (r). Working under the supervision of Dr. Eric Larsen and […]
Digging into the past at Germanna
Front page news during conference and reunion weekend! By Amber Galaviz, published in the July 14, 2016 edition of the Orange County Review. For the first time in 20 years, excavation work is being done at the Fort Germanna/Enchanted Castle archaeology site on the eastern end of Orange County. The Germanna Foundation hopes to discover […]
Germanna and the War for Independence
As we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember the many Germanna-related individuals who served as patriots during the Revolutionary War, helping to earn the liberty we celebrate today. An important part of the story of Germanna and the Revolutionary War is that of the Culpeper Minute Men, organized by recruits from modern-day Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, […]
How I Came to Germanna
by Richard Roy Martin – I came to Germanna by adoption and by biology. You see, my adoptive father, Roy Martin, was a descendant of John Joseph Martin, and my biological father, Herman Meyer, was a descendant of Peter Hitt. If my story is not unusual enough, then it becomes more unusual. According to family […]
Meet our archaeology field season staff
We’re pleased to welcome aboard these seasonal archaeology staff members to help Germanna’s archaeologist, Eric Larsen, Ph.D., with new excavation work at the Fort Germanna and Enchanted Castle site, and to supervise the VCU field school students later in the summer. Thank you to all of our members and supporters for making this possible. […]
Memorial Day
Over this Memorial Day 2016 weekend, please take time to remember those who have fallen while serving our nation in uniform. Say a silent prayer for their families. Participate in a community remembrance service. Share their stories so that others will understand what freedom, patriotism and service really mean.
Editorial: Unearthing stories of Germanna’s past
Thousands of people pass the place every week, yet far too few know of its international significance. Some remarkable moments in American history happened at the Germanna historic site, on State Route 3 in Orange County. Some of those stories are told, briefly, by exhibits in the Germanna Foundation’s Brawdus Martin Visitor Center where the […]
Germanna Foundation gets $250,000 boost
By Amber Galaviz, Orange County Review With a recent $250,000 donation, the Germanna Foundation hopes to begin the construction of a new archaeology research laboratory and artifact storage building near the Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center in Locust Grove. The donation comes from Dr. Michael D. Frost, of Kansas City, MO. as a continuation of his […]
Mother’s Day history
Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day, devoted years to gaining national recognition for a day to honor mothers, as a fulfillment of a dream held by her own mother – Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis. Ann Marie was born in Culpeper in 1832, the daughter of Josiah Washington Reeves and Nancy Kemper Reeves, whose Kemper […]
Thank you for giving to Germanna during the 2016 Community Give
Thank you to our supporters and members for donating to Germanna during the Community Give online fundraising campaign this week! Your donations will help support our archaeology field work this year. The Community Give experienced some technical issues during the day on Tuesday that prevented some supporters from giving, and the campaign was […]
New DAG Officers
The Germanna Foundation is proud to be a charter member of the Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft (DAG) Siegerland-Wittgenstein e.V., which cultivates mutual understanding and cultural exchange between Germans and Americans. They are famous for hosting an annual Thanksgiving dinner for Americans studying or working in the Siegerland-Wittgenstein area! This week, the new officers were elected. They are, […]
Germanna Reunion Registration is Open!
Plan your Own Expedition of Discovery to the Germanna Reunion and Conference July 14-17. Join with Germanna descendants and others from around the country, even the world. Celebrate the 300th anniversary of Alexander Spotswood’s Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition at the Germanna Reunion and Conference. Click here for details, including the schedule of events, pricing, […]
Dr. Michael Frost Accepts Virginia General Assembly Joint Resolution
Michael D. Frost, Ph.D., of Mission Hills, KS and owner/CEO of Continental Steel Fabrication Company of Kansas City, MO receives a ceremonial copy of a Commonwealth of Virginia General Assembly Joint Resolution commending the 300th anniversary of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition, led by Frost’s ancestor Alexander Spotswood, who was Lieutenant Governor of […]
High School Film about Germanna Wins Contest
The German III class of Charlottesville High School, Virginia, won first place for its short film production entitled, “Germanna.” As part of the University of Virginia’s German Film Festival event, the Film Shorts contest invited high school and university students from around the State to make and submit a three to eight-minute film in German. […]
PBS Series “Finding Your Roots” Episode to Feature Germanna Descendant
This week’s episode of the PBS Series Finding Your Roots, the “Pioneers,” will reveal some interesting German ancestry information about one of the episode’s stars. The show airs for the first time on Tuesday evening, Feb 23rd. Watch it, and then watch here for more… You can also check out the Germanna Facebook page. For […]
Archaeology Field School Coming to Germanna this Summer – Part-time staff positions available
The Germanna Foundation is pleased to announce that the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) will conduct a field school hosted by the Germanna Foundation at its Fort Germanna and Enchanted Castle archaeological site in Locust Grove. VCU students (and others who apply and enroll through the University) will learn excavation techniques and help the Foundation’s archaeologist […]
Germanna Archaeologist Dr. Eric Larsen to Speak at German-American Heritage Museum
Please join Museum and Germanna Foundation members, friends, and others for an interesting lecture concerning the history and archaeology of Germanna on Thursday, March 17th, at 6:30pm at the German-American Heritage Museum in Washington, DC. This lecture series is sponsored in part by Germanna Trustee Sven Eric Utsch, and Dr. Larsen’s position is underwritten by a […]
Germanna’s Dr. Eric Larsen Speaks at Culpeper History Museum
Germanna Foundation archaeologist Eric Larsen, Ph.D., packed the house for his lecture “Fort Germanna: Jumping off Point for Lt. Governor, Alexander Spotswood’s ‘Knights of the Golden Horseshoe’ Expedition, 1716” at the Culpeper History Museum’s first Gallery Talk of 2016 on Sunday February 28th. Germanna member Shawn Counts and his father from West Virginia joined nearly 90 people […]
German Script Course Available
The Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, PA, is accepting applications for an intensive course at Moravian College on learning to read German script. Now in its 46th year and the longest-running course of its kind in the country, the course will run from June 1 through June 14, and is being taught by Dr. Paul Peucker, Lanie Yaswinski, […]
Fort Germanna featured in D.C. museum exhibit
The Fort Germanna story is one of rich history, not just for Orange County, but nationally. Built in 1714, Germanna was the first German settlement in Virginia, making it a fitting exhibit at the German-American Heritage Museum’s “German Entrepreneurship” series on view in Washington, D.C. through March. (Story published in the Orange County Review by […]
