Although it has been widely assumed that the first settlers of the Robinson River Valley were members of the so-called Second Colony, the distinction for being the first to patent land in this area falls to someone few would guess.He was not a German. He was not a land baron. He was not a government official. He was not a surveyor. He was not a land speculator. He was not even a member of the Church of England.

So, who was he?

His name was William Rush, of Washington Parish, Westmoreland County. And he was a Quaker. William Rush patented his 400 acres of land on the south side of the Robinson River on 11 May 1726. (Patent Book 12:350). This was 44 days before that hearty band of 24 Second Colony German families took up their sundry patents along the north side of the river on 24 June 1726. (Patent Book 12:474-483). Part of the narrative from the 2009 2nd Colony Tour, as related on this web site, speaking of one of the early German patents Michael Clore) says: The only other nearby settlers were two Quaker brothers across the Robinson River along Quaker Run. These two land grants to Benjamin and William Rush, together amounting to about 800 acres, were actually granted over a month before the Clores.Cut off by the Robinson River on the west, did they even know the Clores? One can assume the answer is yes, as there were not other White people around.

Benjamin Rush took out his own patent adjacent to his brother on 23 March 1727 (N.S., PB 12:349)

Origins of William and Benjamin Rush

These two brothers were the sons of William Rush, who died in Westmoreland County in 1708, by his wife Elizabeth. They were grandsons of William Rush, Sr. and his wife Alice Grey. Among the latters' daughter was Elizabeth Rush who married Joshua Hudson, the ancestors of many Yagers (through the marriage of Nathaniel Yager to Elizabeth Hudson in 1789 in Culpeper County) and also of the well-known radio talk show host Rush Hudson Limbaugh.

This information came to my attention by virtue of dating and citing each of the 112 Crown Patents and Northern Neck grants on the map of early land settlers of the Robinson River Valley made by John Blankenbaker in 1988, which can be found in Germanna Publication No. 18.

Craig Kilby February 2010

The following website has an alphabetized listing of the 1764 Culpeper County Rent Rolls.  Questions: (1) Re:   " Mark Finks, orphan"   - 

Does anyone have information on who this person would be???.  I have  Mark Finks (m Eve Fischer)  born 1744 d 1834; son of the Mark Finks Immigrant listed in Germanna Record #18. Is my Mark Finks  1744 birth date in eror?  Is this another Mark Finks

(2) Source for the  The 1764  Rent rolls is listed as Broderbund Softwares Inc. Family Archives #310 Census Index Colonial America, 1607 - 1789 (Release Date November 11, 1995.

Is anyone familiar with this source, where it can be found, its reliability???  

http://www.melungeons.com/early_va/1764culpeprcountyrentrolls.htm

Years ago I had a note from Washington County, TN that a daughter had married a Brown and was connect ed to the Gov. Brown of GA.

Have you checked this line?

Germanna descendant and Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin celebrates his 80th Birthday on January 20.  Please sign a giant birthday card for him - the Planetary Society is gathing greetings from throughout the world at http://www.planetary.org/special/fromearth/buzz/

Last summer, several German newspapers ran articles about the connection between Aldrin and his Germanna roots.  Read them in English and German at http://www.germanna.org/germana_message_board#comment-167

You can be proud that the Germanna Foundation has members in 47 states, the District of Columbia, Germany, and Australia.

Let's get New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Rhode Island in the game! (f you know someone who would be interested in the heritage of Germanna in those three states, give them a gift membership).

As you might have guessed, the Commonwealth of Virginia is in first place by a long stretch -- but would you be surprised that less than a quarter of our membership hails from the Old Dominion?

Using data current as of January 1st, it might surprise you to learn that California is in second place in membership. Distance no longer a barrier due to modern technology, two of our most active Trustees, Michael Oddenino and Barbara Price, both live in southern California.

Close behind California in membership is the Lone Star State of Texas, which owes its independence from Mexico due to the efforts of men like Germanna descendant Elbridge Gerry Rector.

A gentlemanly fourth place goes to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, heavily settled by Germanna descendants in the early Federal period of our Nation's history. Missouri and North Carolina are tied for fifth, but Ohio is right behind them and gaining. Maryland, Florida, and Indiana are neck and neck.

Bringing up the field, and tied for last place: South Dakota and Hawaii. Anyone up for an expedition to Hawaii to bring up our numbers there?

Dr. John W. Wayland is one of those giants of Virginia history upon whose shoulders we all stand, and to whom all owe such a debt of gratitude. His interest in, and contribution to, our knowledge of the Germanna Colonies is well known.

The following biography is taken from a write-up by Francis F. Wayland, titled "John Walter Wayland, a biographical sketch" published in 1990.*
_____________

John Walter Wayland was an educator, historian and author. He was born on 8 December 1872 at the family home in Shenandoah County known as "Woodlawn." His father was John Wesley Wayland, a school teacher, cabinet maker and skilled mechanic. His mother was Anna Kagey Wayland.

Wayland received his early education from his parents, and at age 11 attended a one-room school house at Rochelle, and later "a normal two summers" in New Market. In the early 1890s, he taught two years of school in Shenandoah County

He enrolled at Bridgewater College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1899. He earned his Doctorate of History from the University of Virginia in 1907. He taught at Bridgewater College for seven years, at the University of VIrginia for three years, and for 22 years at what is now James Madison University.

Upon his retirement in 1931, he devoted the rest of his life to historical research and writing, especially in the field of Virginia history. He was the author of over 30 books and over 300 published articles and pamphlets. He made the maps included in some of his books.

Among his works was History of Virginia for Boys and Girls published in 1920, and used in Virginia schools over a quarter of a century. He also wrote the lyrics to "Old Virginia" which was a song that for many years was sung throughout the state.

His hobbies included collecting nicknames and pen names, and making canes from wood found at historic places.

He died at Harrisonburg, where he had lived since 1909 on 10 January 1962. He is buried in Oak Lawn Cemetery in Bridgewater. He was survived by his wife and two sons.

*Source: The Fairfax Line, A Historic Landmark by Arthur T. McClinton, John W. Coleman and Francis F. Wayland (Edinburg, VA: The Shenandoah County Historical Society, 1990), 21-23. This book includes a reprint of John W. Wayland's The Fairfax Line (1925) and Thomas Lewis's Journal of 1746.

"Uhrmeiersch," the ancestral home of the Richter/Rector family, was built around 1640 and was destroyed in the closing days of World War II, in April 1945. "Uhrmeiersch" was the home of the Germanna colonial family of Hans Jacob Richter and his wife Anna Elisabeth Fischbach. Their son Johannes married in Virginia to Anna Catharina Fischbach, granddaughter of Germanna colonists Rev. Henrich Haeger and his wife Anna Catharina Friesenhagen.

A painting of the house "Uhrmeiersch" appears in Dieter Tröps and Udo Bohn, Trupbach 1389-1989: Ortsgeschichte in Texten und Bildern (Heimatverein Trupbach, Siegen-Trupbach, 1989), at 198.

There is a charming photograph by Otto Arnold taken on April 8, 1931 of "Uhrmeiersch" with five children in the foreground leaning on a fence. The Germanna Foundation has a framed copy of this photograph, which can also be found in Otto Arnold, Otto Arnold Photographie: 1927-1938; Siegerlaender Landschaften, Bilddokumente einer Suedwestfaelischen Kulturlandschaft (Siegen: Verlag Arnold, 1986) at 124.

Both of these books, rare in the United States, can be found in the library of the Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center.

The history of "Uhrmeiersch" is given on pages 197-198 of Tröps and Bohn.

Haus Nr. 18 Uhrmeiersch (Trupbacher Str. 65)

Erbaut ca. 1640. (Built around 1640.) [Ownership of the home transferred in 1668 from Johannes Schmidt to Hermann Becker. Further research needs to be done, but it appears at this time that ownership of the house descended in the same family (frequently through the female line) since at least 1668].

1668 Hermann Becker
1680 Christoffel Richter, Uhrmacher (Clockmaker) mit (with) Anna Cath. Becker
1707 Johannes Richter, Uhrmacher (Clockmaker)
1760 Hermann Richter, Uhrmacher
1812 Johann Henrich Hoffman, Vorsteher mit Maria Elis. Richter
1862 Johannes Henrich Stracke, Kleinschmied (locksmith) mit Cath. Hoffman
1880 Carl Zimmer, Landwirt (farmer) mit Helene Stracke
1910 Carl Zimmer, Landwirt
1940 Carl Zimmer, Landwirt

"Bei den Kaempfen um Trupbach im Jahr 1945 wurde dieses schoene Fachwerkhaus von Granaten getroffen und brannte voellig nieder." [During the fighting in Trupbach in 1945, this beautiful half-timbered house was hit by a grenade and burned to the ground.]

The owners of the Richter house site, which is now used as a barn, are brothers Fritz and Theo Bottenberg, who have hosted the Germanna Foundation visitors to their home over the last several years. Fritz even made the transatlantic flight to come to a reunion several years ago.

On the 2005 Germanna Trip, Cary Anderson recalls that Fritz
mentioned in his remarks to the group that they were living in the house when it blew up and burned. Fritz then stated that his mother owned the current house where she had a grocery store. He contined: "We just moved over here."

In December 2009, Jurgen Schneider wrote that "The Trupbach Rector Home was destroyed by phosphor bombs two days before the end of World War Two in 1945. Near the house was at that time an anti-aircraft defence position.

"The last three generations of farmers who lived in the house were clockmakers in the wintertime. Older generations combined the farm with a blacksmith's shop. Till 1867 the house was for many generations inherited in the women's line.

"My mother, born in 1907, spent in her childhood many vacations in the Rector House. It was the house of her grandparents. Her father Gustaf Zimmer was born in the house in 1868."

As a gift to visiting Germanna Foundation, Fritz and Theo Bottenberg, on behalf of the Trupbach Heimatverein, presented a square section of the herring-bone stone floor to the Germanna Foundation, on display now in the Visitor Center. The Germanna Foundation maintains close ties to the Heimatvereine of the ancestral villages of Germanna families, maintaining communication and friendships with the historical associations that promote the preservation of the history of the ancestral villages and surrounding areas.

"Uhrmeiersch" and the family that lived in this house for some 300 years has been a topic on the "Germanna Colonies" e-mail list. Join in the conversation by sending an e-mail to germanna_colonies-l-request@rootsweb.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.

Better yet, sign up with the Germanna Foundation trip to Trupbach and other villages you would never see on a commercial tour. See http://www.germanna.org/germany_trip for details.

[A founding trustee of the Germanna Foundation, John Walter Wayland wrote a book of short stories from history to be used in the classroom. This is a transcription of the first story in this 1922 book. His First and Second Colony ancestry can be found at the Marc Wheat Database. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from your fellow members and volunteers of the Germanna Foundation!]

HISTORY STORIES FOR PRIMARY GRADES (1922)

By

John W. Wayland, Ph.D.
Professor of History and Social Science,
State Normal School, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Author of How to Teach American History

PART ONE
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS SONG

Some angels sang the first Christmas song, and some
shepherds heard it.

It was one night, long, long ago; and it was in a
country far, far away.

In that country the people kept a great many sheep.
The men and boys who took care of the sheep were
called shepherds.

The shepherds would take the sheep out where the
grass was green, and keep them there all day. They
would keep a sharp watch so that nothing would come
out of the woods and hurt the sheep. Often they would
lead the sheep down, by the brooks, where the cool,
clear water went tumbling over the stones, and where
they could find nice shady places under the trees.
Sometimes the shepherds would camp out with the
sheep. They would stay out in the fields and watch
the sheep all night. Cattle and sheep often like the
nighttime for grazing better than the daytime.

But I started to tell you about the first Christmas
song.

Well, in that land so far away, some shepherds
were out in the fields one night, keeping watch over
their flock.

All at once they thought it was morning, but it
wasn't. It grew light - just as light as day - but
it wasn't morning. The light came all at once; and
when the shepherds saw the great light, and found
that it wasn't morning, they didn't know what to
think of it. They didn't know what to do. They
were frightened, terribly frightened.

And then they saw somebody. Somebody stood
right before them in the great light. It was an angel,
and he began to speak to them. He said :
" Don't be afraid ! I bring you good news. I come
to make you happy. It is Christmas !"

And then the shepherds saw more angels.
A great crowd of angels stood right before them
in the bright light. And then the angels began to sing.
These are the words they sang:

" Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, good will toward men."

It was the first Christmas song! The angels sang
it, and I imagine that the shepherds learned to sing
it, too. Every Christmas, nowadays, a great many
people sing that song.

Is it not a beautiful song? Don't you think it ought
to make the world happy ?

NOTE TO THE TEACHER. There are many simple, beautiful
Christmas songs that may be sung with the children at this
season in connection with this story and others of similar
character.

Cafe Hayek informed me that Leonard Read's essay "I, Pencil" celebrates its 51st anniversary this month.

"You may wonder why I should write a genealogy. Well, to begin with, my story is interesting. And, next, I am a mystery—more so than a tree or a sunset or even a flash of lightning... For, the wise G. K. Chesterton observed, 'We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.'"

Read more at http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html

More and more genealogists are turning to social networking sites to track down distant relatives, conduct research projects, plan for reunions, and raise funds for publishing new books.

The Germanna Foundation has established pages on Facebook and LinkedIn. Join in!

The direct link to the Germanna Foundation Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41635124837&ref=ts and the LinkedIn group link is http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=133155&trk=anet_ug_hm

Facebook has 350 million subscribers world-wide, most heavily concentrated in the United States, followed by the European Union. A recent article from the Heritage Foundation estimates that 70 million American households have a Facebook account. To help make it easier for these millions of users to find us, we have a "Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia" Facebook group.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site of 55 million users that is very helpful to find common interests based on job experience, location, and groups to affiliate with. Retired? Just check that you are consulting in an area of expertise. Searching for other groups on LinkedIn that might be of interest? Try the Society of The Cincinnati, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, Civil War Sesquicentennial Network, German-American Relations, Philanthropy Network, Transatlantic Forum, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Conservation Easement, and Friends of Scouting.

There are a lot of unconnected Germanna descendants out there - let's find them and connect them to their first ancestors in America.

For more information on www.Facebook.com and www.LinkedIn.com, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkedIn

GERMANNA_COLONIES is a mailing list primarily for descendants of the Germanna Colonies which were the original German settlements under Governor Spotswood that were established near Fort Germanna in what is now Orange, Culpeper, and Madison Counties, Virginia. There were two colonies established in 1714 and 1717 with some "latecomers" arriving from 1719 to about 1735. Anyone researching their German heritage or the history of this region is welcome!

The list is independent of the Germanna Foundation, but many of its members are the most active participants. Join in the conversation and encourage others get to know members of the Germanna Diaspora from all over the world!

To subscribe send "subscribe" to germanna_colonies-l-request@rootsweb.com (mail mode, which allows you to receive e-mails soon after they are sent) or germanna_colonies-d-request@rootsweb.com (digest mode, which packages them up and sends them out in a group).

The Germanna Visitor Center was the most beautiful I've seen it for the Culpeper Holiday Tour of Homes - filled with poinsettias, German goodies, a Chistmas tree and German Christmas decorations. It was nice to be with friends old and new watching our first snow-fall of the season from the warmth of the library and museum. Congratulations to Sandy Allyson, Skip & Joy Poole, Frank Turnage, Kathy Ellis, Madison and Katharine Brown, Bob Sexton, Brian Rector and our other volunteers for making this event possible.

I am stuck....my husbands grandfather was Howard Rector of Marshall, Va., born 1893. His father was Edward Rector, known as Euby. I cannot locate the documentation for Edward to prove his part in the line. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Does anyone know if this includes the Fink family?

TWO CLORE SISTERS AND TWO GRINSTEAD BROTHERS
In about 1834, when Sanford Clore was seven years old his family moved from Virginia to Highland County, Ohio. Sanford remained there until about 1850. In 1849 he married Elizabeth Kneedler. In 1864 he moved to Tipton County, IN. They remained there until 1866 when they moved to Davis County, Iowa. They had three girls. It is interesting that two of the daughters married Grinstead brothers. One daughter, Sarah Frances, married Josiah Allen Grinstead. Another daughter, Leah Etta-Jane (1855-1899) married Charles Wirt Grinstead (1857-1927), the brother of Josiah. Charles Wirt and Leah Etta-Jane were the parents of my mother, Marie. Eventually they all ended up in Iowa. Charles Wirt Grinstead and Josiah Allen Grinstead were descendants of William Grinstead who came to the Northern Neck of Virginia from England in about 1650 as an indentured servant for Col. Mottrum. He fell in love with a mulatto slave, Elizabeth. After they had two sons they were able to be married in 1656 only after William helped Elizabeth obtain her freedom through the court system.

In my last post seeking information about Joseph Yeager and Barbara Miller Yeager, I mistakenly said that Rebecca Yeager, was the daughter of Joseph, she in fact was his sister, the other info is correct.I am a direct descendant of Adam Yager of Woodstock VA. I, along with others would like to find any info of Joseph , and Rebecca, and hopefully find some of their descendants. Thank you in advance for any information that you may be able to supply.

Want to help lead a family group to strengthen friendships and kinships across Germanna? Applications are being accepted by the Germanna Foundation at foundation@germanna.org! Working together and forming friendships in the process, we'll accomplish more things than we could possibly accomplish on our own.

Our volunteers will help match you up with other descendants interested in organizing family projects to get ready for the 300th Jubilee of Germanna -- which is in just five years!

In your e-mail application, cut and paste the Q&A and send it to our volunteers in the form at http://www.germanna.org/contact_us or in your e-mail to foundation@germanna.org:

GERMANNA FAMILY COMMITTEE APPLICATION
Name
Street Address
City, State, Zip
e-mail address
best phone number
Are you on Facebook?
Are you on LinkedIn?
From which Germanna families do you descend?
Which Germanna family would you most like to research?
Which Germanna family is a secondary priority?
What is your experience in genealogy?
Do you have your genealogy posted on-line?
If so, what is the URL address?
Have you ever volunteered for a historical society?
Have you ever organized other volunteer activities?

Am seeking descendants of Joseph Yager/Yeager and Barbara Miller Yeager. Joseph was the son of Adam Yager of Woodstock VA.

Joseph mmarried Barbara Miller, daughter Jacob Miller, founder of Millers Town, now known as Woodstock, VA. Also seeking descendant of Rebecca Yeager, daughter of Joseph Yager/Yeager, Rebecca M.1st Jacob Miller Jr. M 2nd Mathias Zehrung< (See Betty Johnson's book "Following John") I need help because time is of the essence, am in my 80th year of life so you know the rest of the story. Any help or suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

VY

I am trying to trace Nancy Wilhite Brown back to Lamech Wilhoit (father) I have will and back to his father Aaron Wilhoit married to Mary Yaeger (M:1785) to his father John Wilhoit married to ???? Smith first wife and then wife #2 Elizabeth Blankenbaker in the mid 1700's.

Does any one have some documentation.. Like I said earler I have lamech's will showing that Nancy is his daughter.

PLEASE help...

I am the fifth great granddaughter by marriage..

Janet

Cornwell C. Martin

Regarding the marriages of my German Kemper Family to the French Huguenot families of Bayse and Mauzy.

NOTE:There is a probability there could have been marriages with the other French Huguenot families and other German families of Amissville & Germantown, Virginia.

My Huguenot genealogical research began with the Huguenot Society of America in New York City, who referred me to their Virginia counterpart.

I found the Huguenot Society of Manakin, Virginia, absolutely no help in locating the ancestral home of my Huguenot families. They advise that they are only interested in the Huguenot families that settled in Southern Virginia and they advise that their library is, so confined. I would think that a Society of this special ancestry would care to retrieve all records for the Protestant French Nationals that came to America. This was a unique national group of people that sought religious freedom and I am proud to have ancestors that followed their own way of life. I am sorry that The Huguenot Society of Manakin, Virginia, has not considered this common background important enough, except for Caroline County and ["northward?"]..

I had to refer to my 1899 copy of Willis Miller Kemper,"Kemper Genealogy", for some answers.

On the Bayse Family: I found that my G. G. G. Grandmother, Nancy Bayse [ born 1787 in Amissville, Fauquier County, Virginia & died 1865 in Germantown, Fauquier County, Virginia., who married John [IV] Kemper [ born 1784 in Germantown, Fauquier County, Virginia & died in 1865 in Germantown, Fauquier County, Virginia] who were married in 1805 at her parent's hometown of Amissville, Fauquier County Virginia, not too far from Germantown, Fauquier County, Virginia. They sired five children. My G. G. Great grandfather, John Mauzy Kemper [1813 - 1860]}. He was named after his maternal grandmother's maiden name, Mauzy. John Mauzy Kemper married Adeline Somerville Cole [b.7/8/1820 & d. 7/9/1903] in December 24, 1839; a brother, John Morgan Kemper[1847 - ?] [who was named after his paternal Grandmother's maiden name, Elizabeth Morgan; also brothers Henry and William and a sister, Sophia, who married, Daniel Cole, brother of Adaline Somerville Cole.

John Mauzy Kemper and Adaline Somerville Cole sired several children, amongst them were Mary Catherine Kemper who married Richard Churchill Martin, my Great Grandparents and Richard Churchill Martin's sister, Mary Ritchie Martin married Rufus Walton Kemper, brother of Mary Catherine Kemper.

See enclosed History of Amissville, Virginia http://www.amissville.com/tour.html where Nancy's grandfather, Edmond Bayse is mentioned. See the following web page for specific location: http://www.virginiawineevents.com/downloads/Amissville.pdf It seems that Joseph Bayse and Joseph Amiss received a grant for these lands from Lord Fairfax in 1763. As to the rest of the Bayse Family history/genealogy, before migrating to Fauquier County, Virginia. For other German- French connections, Elizabeth Bayse married Joseph Kemper of Culpeper County in 1780 and Hannah Bayse married Louis Kemper January 28,1789., Charles Kemper [ b.9/24/1764 Fauquier County, VA] married Susannah Mauzy 1786 in Fauquier County, Virginia. Susannah Mauzy was daughter of Henry Mauzy and Elizabeth Taylor [b. 1740]

Please read the following:
__________________________________________________________________________________

The Basye's were originally French Huguenots, as the Protestants were known in France during the Reformation, and in the religious struggles in France in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many of these Protestants were executed or banished after having their property confiscated by fanatical Roman Catholics. Many fled to Germany, Holland, Switzerland, England, and America between 1538 and 1789. My direct ancestors fled to England, and later came to America.
Edmond Basye is first evident in documentation in Virginia on November 20, 1669 when he signed a deed as a witness.
Edmond was an attorney by profession, and owned a considerable amount of land in Northumberland County, Virginia, numbering in the thousands of acres. It is probable that his wife, Eliza Taylor Basye, died prior to 1714, as she is not named in his will. They had nine children, and were wealthy plantation-owners, raising tobacco and other crops common to the area. Edmond was a sailor in his youth, practiced hunting and fishing, and was a well-educated "country gentleman" of the day, as is surmised by the list of items named in his will. It would appear that Edmond also had a sister Adrienne Basye, who settled in Hartford, Connecticut and later was wed to John Lord of Hartford.
Other Basye's settled early in the colonies, but their possible relationship to our family cannot be established. One John Basye settled in Hartford, Connecticut, prior to 1640. He was a weaver, and his house was located on the south side of the road from the mill to the south meadow, which is now Elm Street. He held a number of local public offices (Surveyor of Highways, 1652; Constable, 1656; and Townsman, 1669). He came from Wethersfield Parish, Essex, England. Other Basye's of the same period settled in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Following is my direct lineage, taken from the book "The Basye Family in the United States", compiled and written by Otto Basye. Numbers listed by names are generational identification numbers from this book. If you do not have this book, generation "A" denotes the immigrant Edmond Basye's generation, and subsequent letters denote subsequent generations. Therefore, my grandfather-Jonas Benard Basye (#G268) was a member of the seventh generation, or six levels removed from the original Edmond.
SUMMARY INLINE ANCESTRY

EDMOND BASYE (1645-1724) #A1

|

ISAAC BASYE (1671-1739) #B1

|

EDMOND BASYE (1720-1804) #C7

|

EDMOND BASYE (1750-1783) #D23

|

JOHN BASYE (1773-1856) #E49)

|

NATHAN JOHN BASYE (1836-1919) #F97

|

JONAS BENARD BASYE (1876-1963) #G268

|

FLORAN WARD BASYE (1906-1984) (G-Generation last in Basye book)

|

TERRY WARD BASYE (1941- )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDMOND BASYE (1645-1724) #A1
Edmond was the first of our ancestors in America. He and his two brothers, John and Elizamond, came to Maryland in 1670. In 1673, he married Elizabeth "Eliza" Taylor. She was the daughter of John Taylor and Alice Gascoigne. Alice Gascoigne's lineage traces back to King Henry I of England, William the Conqueror, King of Normandy, and numerous other members of royal families from England, France, and Scandinavia.

Edmond and John were attorneys and overseers of roads in two Virginia counties. Elizamond, the third brother, returned to England and joined the crew of a pirate named "Dampier". He traveled to what is now the Philippine Islands, where he was abandoned by Dampier, along with the rest of the crew. He ran away with the daughter of a Malayan prince to the island of Samar, and settled at the southern tip of that island. There is a town today at that location named "Basey".
I met a Filipina woman who lives in Ohio while returning from California on a plane. We struck up a casual conversation, and I related this story to her. She told me that she knows of this town, as it was a place where she and her family would go to swim in the ocean when she was a girl.
Edmond was a captain of soldiers who fought Indians prior to the American Revolution.
ISAAC BASYE (1671-1739) #B1
Isaac Basye was also captain of a group of soldiers who fought in various battles with Indians prior to the American Revolution. He lived in Northumberland County, Virginia, and was a vestryman in a church in Alexandria, Virginia.
EDMOND BASYE (1720-1804) #C7
Edmond Basye lived in Prince William County, Virginia. He was known to be a prominent citizen, member of the Baptist church, and a sergeant who fought in some of the Indian wars. He later fought in the American Revolutionary War and the French and Indian War. He owned considerable land in Virginia, and kept slaves on his plantation.
EDMOND BASYE (1750-1783) #D23
Edmond Basye fought in the American Revolutionary War. He made his home in Fauquier County, Virginia, and died of smallpox at the Nansemond Court House, Virginia while returning home at the end of the American Revolutionary War. His granddaughter, Eliza James Basye, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. He was also a slave owner, and his mother's maiden name was Taylor.
JOHN BASYE (1773-1856) #E49
John Basye was married three times, and fathered a total of seventeen children by his three wives. He taught school in Page County, Virginia at the age of sixteen. His first wife had twelve children, and his second only one. He and his third wife had four children.
He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 31st Regiment of the Virginia Militia. He moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 1800. He owned extensive land near the present-day towns of New Market and Orkney Springs, Virginia. The present town of Basye, Virginia was named by his granddaughter Martha, daughter of Jonas Burnes Basye. Basye, VA is located very close to Orkney Springs. His son Jonas Burnes Basye was the namesake of my grandfather, Jonas Benard Basye. John's mother's maiden name was Mauzy.
NATHAN JOHN BASYE (1838-1919) #F97
Nathan Basye's mother's maiden name was Hess. He lived at Mathias, Hardy County, West Virginia. He and his wife, the former Ann Eliza Grady, were members of the Baptist church, and he was a farmer. Nathan had the old family bible of his father John, which was later bequeathed to my great-uncle Lorenzo Boyd Basye. (Incidentally, I ate not a few meals at the home of Great-uncle Lorenzo when I was between seven and twelve years old, but he was "Uncle Bob" to us. I never knew his name was Lorenzo until long after his death, when I first read about him in the "Basye book". I remember his having a very dry wit, which he kept in a jar of dessicant crystals to maintain its dryness. It worked quite well.) But I digress.
Nathan was the Second Lieutenant of Company K, 7th Regiment, of the Virginia Cavalry of the Confederate Army. He was wounded in battle in July and August, 1864, and on November 9, 1864, received pay for a horse which was killed in action near Fishers Hill, Shenandoah County, Virginia.
Nathan's children were as follows:
Name (b/d) Married to: Resided at:
Fannie E. Basye 1865-____ Angus Dispanet Hardy County, West Virginia
John H. Basye 1867-____ Victoria Brown Westernport, Maryland
Edna Basye 1869-____ Angus Brown, Sr. ?
Viola Basye 1872-____ Milton Hartman ?
Lillie Hess Basye 1874-1909 Edward Kline Nevada, and Denver, Colorado
Jonas Benard Basye 1876-1963 Dora Belle Sager near Mathias, West Virginia
Matilda S. Basye 1878-____ George Wilkins near Mathias, West Virginia
Lorenzo Boyd Basye 1880-____ Hattie See near Mathias, West Virginia
Mary (Lane) Basye 1883-____ Frank Lane Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Nathan and his wife are buried in adjoining graves on a farm on top of Branch Mountain, Hardy County, West Virginia. I have visited their grave sites as recently as 1981, and will later perhaps include photos of their monuments in my "Photo Album" page. Pictures of Nathan and his family are on that page now, including others listed above.
JONAS BENARD BASYE (1876-1963) #G268
Jonas Basye was born at Capon, Hardy County, West Virginia. He and his wife Dora had nine children, and Dora died in childbirth with their tenth child on October 30, 1916. Jonas was a farmer and cooper (barrel-maker) by trade, and was a very large man. I was almost 6' 4" tall when I was a teenager, and I remember him being taller than I when he was in his late eighties. I have seen photos of him when he was younger, and he appeared to be about 6' 6" or more. He was a true "Mountain Man" of the Appalachians. Their children were as follows:
Name (b/d) Married to: Resided at:
Pearl Marie Basye 1900-1992 Lory Combs, Robert Rhodes Keyser, West Virginia
John Boyd Basye 1902-1926 (John died of a ruptured appendix at age 24)
Mildred Merl Basye 1903-2001 Edgar Parker Keyser, West Virginia
Nathan Benard Basye 1905-2004 Della Evans Piedmont, West Virginia
Floran Ward Basye 1906-1984 Nellie Avery Somerset County, PA
Price Nelson Basye 1907-1967 Ruth Sherman Mathias, West Virginia
Theo. Franklin Basye 1909-1980 Lottie Bowers Mathias, West Virginia
Clinton Uhl Basye 1913-1994 Ethel Bivens Ansted, West Virginia
Eliza Catherine Basye 1914-1927 (Eliza died at age thirteen. I do not know the cause.)
FLORAN WARD BASYE (1906-1984) ("G" GENERATION LAST IN BASYE BOOK)
Floran was born near Mathias, West Virginia. His mother died when he was ten years old, so I never knew my paternal grandmother. Jonas promised Dora on her deathbed that he would never remarry, that he would raise their children, and he kept that promise. It wasn't easy for a man to raise a family of children in that time and place, I would guess, but he probably had some help from relatives. Floran moved to Westernport, Maryland when he was a young man, and got a job at a paper mill in Luke, Maryland, where he met his wife-to-be and my mother, Nellie Marie Avery. They were married on May 27, 1927, and enjoyed a long life together until Floran died from lung cancer on February 19, 1984, at the age of 77. He had spent much of his life working in the coal mines in Pennsylvania, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and most outdoor sports. If I had to try to think of a legacy that he left, I would have to simply say that I never knew any children who didn't love Floran, my father, including me. He really loved children very much, and they gravitated to him because of that. My memories of my dad are all very fond ones, and at age 57 I still miss him very much. I also miss my mother, who passed on January 27, 1996 from pneumonia.
Floran and Nellie had two children:
KENNETH FLORAN BASYE (1929- ) Ken was born January 25, 1929, in Cumberland, Maryland. He grew up in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, joining the U.S. Navy in 1946 at age 17. He served for over 20 years in the Navy, and later the Air Force, retiring from military in Colorado Springs, Colorado where he still resides. He was a computer technician at NORAD (North American Air Defense Command) in Cheyenne Mountain on the western edge of Colorado Springs for a number of years. He is 70 years old, and still works as an electronics technician, even though he has retired from two careers. He enjoys hunting and fishing, and seems much younger than his 70 years. Ken married Phyllis Hazel Hornsby in 1953, and they have five children:
Kirsten Lee Basye Felton - Kitty lives in Somerset, Pennsylvania.
Colin Jay Basye - Colin now lives Boise, Idaho.
Shevawn Kay Basye - Shevawn lives in Colorado Springs, and speaks fluent French, having lived in France for a few years.
Miriam Hart Basye Dreibelbis - Miriam lives in Rocky Ford, Colorado, and is educating her children at home. She belongs in the 19th century.
Janice Leah Basye Crongeyer - Janice was in the U.S. Navy, stationed in Naples, Italy. She is married to Ralph Crongeyer, a computer geek of the nth magnitude. (Also a nice guy).

TERRY WARD BASYE (1941- ) I was born on June 25, 1941 in Somerset, Pennsylvania. We lived about 10 miles north of there in the country, surrounded by Pennsylvania Dutch (German) farmers. We grew up doing things that many persons today would like to prohibit, such as shooting, hunting, trapping fur-bearing animals, fishing, and working. After high school, I enlisted in the U.S.Navy, and served four years as a Missile Technician, working on Terrier surface-to-air missiles. (I attended missile school for one year, then served aboard the USS Dewey, DLG-14 for three years). I got to visit more than twenty countries, spending two six-month cruises to the Mediterranean Sea, and a NATO good-will cruise through northern Europe in 1961. I was also involved in the Cuban Blockade. The Caribbean Sea was a favorite haunt of the Dewey, so I was able to enjoy visiting Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands many times during the time of cold winter months in Norfolk, Virginia, my home port.
After my enlistment, I moved to California in 1964 where I met my future wife, the former Lillian Eileen Arroyo. We were married in 1965, and I attended college at night while working days for many years. I spent most of my life working in the defense industry. This kept me in Monrovia, California from 1964 to 1975, then in Grants Pass, Oregon until 1978; Colorado Springs, Colorado until 1988; Boca Raton, Florida until 1989; Cincinnati, Ohio until 1995; and finally, in Lexington, Kentucky since 1995. Hopefully, I can settle down for once in my life.
Lillian and I have two children:
Erik Ward Basye, born in Monrovia, California in 1967.
Shaela Marie Elizabeth Basye Hadley, born in Arcadia, California in 1974. She lives in Nicholasville, Kentucky with her husband Patrick Hadley, and my three grandsons- Ryan Drew Hadley, age 5.5, Nathan Paul Hadley, age 2.5, and Johnathan Ward Basye Hadley, age 8 months. Both Shaela and Pat are attending the University of Kentucky in addition to managing a family and household.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

On the Mauzy/Mause Family.

MAUZY, of Rockingham County

There are two places by this name in Rockingham County. We will deal, first, with the town near McGaheysville on the Chesapeake Western Railroad. The site of this town Mauzy corresponds to the home place of Thomas Mauzy. He settled there in the latter part of the eighteenth century. As the place has been in the Mauzy family for about 115 years it is not surprising that the name was located there. Brock tells us the Mauzeys were Huguenots. They fled from France during the persecutions and Henry Mauzy came to Fauquier County, Virginia.

I have added another web page for your study: http://cybergramsworld.com/MauzyLine.html

I am proud to say that I am a descendant of several French Huguenot families migrate to the New World, escaping religious tyranny, as the Bayse and Mauzy families to Virginia, The Lanphere Family into Rhode Island in the 1600's, and the Mulnix/Mollineaux family into New York State. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the nineteenth century.

Cedar Grove Cemetery in Bealeton, Fauquier County, Virginia on Route #17 holds the remains of many of my Martin and Kemper ancestors. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vafauqu2/CedarGrove/index.html

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History of the Huguenots of France

Overview

First we must identify a Walloon. A Walloon is a member of a French speaking people of Celtic descent inhabiting southern and southeastern Belgium and adjacent regions of France. Walloon is also the French dialect of these people.

Huguenot was the name given in the 16th and 17th centuries to a French Protestant who followed the beliefs of Calvin. By 1561 there were 2,000 Calvinist churches in France and the Huguenots had become a political faction that seemed to threaten the state. Persecution followed and brought numbers to England as refugees during Tudor times, and the Crypt of Cantebury Cathedral was assigned to them as a place of worship in 1550. Those who remained during the French Wars of Religion fought eight civil wars against the Catholic establishment and triumphed when, by the Edict of Nantes in 1598, Henry IV gave them liberty of worship and a 'state within a state'. Their numbers grew, especially among merchants and skilled artisans, until they were again persecuted. The centre of their resistance in 1627 was La Rochelle, which the Richlieu government had to besiege for over a year before capturing it. In 1685 the Edict was revoked; many thousands of Huguenots fled to England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Brandenburg, some settling as far away as North America and the Cape of Good Hope. All these places were to benefit from their skill in craftmanship and trade, particularly as silk-weavers and silversmiths, the taking an important part in the development of the manufacture of silk, velvet and linen.

The Drainage People

Those Huguenots who came into East Anglia may have referred to themselves as Calvinists rather than Huguenots. To understand the history of these settlers we need to go back 60 years, when Calais fell to the French and out of English hands. The skilled drainage people were living at Balinguen and Guisnes, and in the area which is still full of canals and marshy areas. They were working for the English, draining the marshes from Dunkirk to the area below Calais. The Duc de Lorraine and his brother, the Archbishop of Lorraine, invited the Spanish Inquistition into northern France the first week after Calais' surrender and they immediately sentenced the French/Walloon protestants working for the English to permanent exile; the condemned were allowed to take their personal possessions, their household goods and moveable. Most of these people fled northwards into the Netherlands, Walcheren having been the most northerly part of Flanders at one time, many of the people considered themselves Flemish first and French. The ministers of the Calvinist churches in northern France, especially to the area from Calais north to the border, were sent from Walcheren where the controlling church is thought to have been although this may have been transferred to Leiden later.

The skilled drainage people travelled to where they could find work just as the other artisans in the manufacture of silk, velvet and linen, drainage was an art form. They travelled to London, Norwich, Kent, and other parts of England. The settlement that had been in the English Pale behind Calais remained together, ended up in Middelburg Walcheren. They went, as a body, to Sandtoft, they sailed up the Humber and docked just below Doncaster. Cornelius Vermuyden had had a chapel built for them at Sandtoft, after acquiring permission and installed a little company town which was later burned out and the church destroyed - they then moved to Thorney and environs.

In his book, SMILES states: "…a scheme was set afoot for reclaim of drowned lands in Hatfield Chase and the Great Level of the Fens and a large number of labourers assembled under Cornelius Vermuyden to execute necessary works. They were, however, a very different class of men from the modern ‘navvies’ - for wherever they went, they formed themselves into congregations, erected churches, and appointed ministers to conduct their worship. Upward of 200 Flemish families settled on land reclaimed by them in the Isle of Axholme; the ships which brought the immigrants up the Humber to their new home being facetiously hailed as "the navy of Tarshish"….In short, wherever the refugees settled, they acted as so many missionaries of skilled work, exhibiting the best practical examples of diligence, industry, and thrift and teaching the English people in the most effective manner the beginnings of those various industrial arts in which they have since acquired so much distinction and wealth."

Some had not settled at Sandtoft, but lived in the area apparentlyand worshipped at parishes in Belton and other Hatfield locations but it is unclear whether this was before or after Sandtoft was destroyed.

Thorney Settlement

There is a marble memorial tablet on the north wall of Thorney Abbey which is an inscription to Ezekiel Danois of Compiegne in France, the first minister of the Huguenot colony which fled to England to avoid persecution and settled in Thorney. For 21 years he was at Thorney Abbey and he was buried there, aged 54, in 1674. Huguenot pastors continued to minister at Thorney until 1715. French Drove and French farm in the extreme north of the parish recall the settlement in the 17th century of French and Walloon refugees, who helped in the reclamation of the fen areas and long remained an important element in Thorney. The refugees were first admitted on condition of being allowed to sell at any market, and of being exempt from service overseas for 40 years, and from subsidies and fifteenths. They held services in the church under their own pastors, who kept a separate register 1654 to 1727 which has been printed as an appendix to Warner's 'History of Thorney Abbey', in fact the restoration of the abbey was in the main for the special benefit of these foreign settlers.

The settlement was fairly large averaging 29 births a year 1654-63, 37.9 in 1664-73, and 26 in 1764-83. After this date numbers began to diminish, partly due to intermarriage and absorption in the general surrounding community. In the 10 years 1714-23 there was an average of only 7.9 births and this dropped to 7 in the last 4 years to 1727. Cole, writing in 1744, mentions that French was still spoken by the descendants of the refugees in private conversation, and a court roll of 1748 shows 7 French names among the 28 jurors. Gardner's Directory of Cambridgeshire 1851 shows a few names, such as Barron, Bellamy, Charity, and Provost, which may be of French origin, but these have died out now.

The settlement had two further influxes. The first was caused by Queen Elizabeth who sent the Artois Walloons from Southampton to Thorney. The Atois colony, which held the earliest church register still extant in the British Isles, had been decimated twice or three times by the plague and with them the Sea Beggars who settled in Southampton. In 1583 plague hit the settlement, according to Samuel SMILES in his book entitled THE HUGUENOTS, THEIR SETTLEMENTS, CHURCHES, and INDUSTRIES IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND, and again in 1604. M. Courand the pastor died after registering with his own hand the deaths of a great part of his flock due to the plague.

The Sea Beggars were harrying the Spanish fleet after Philip ordered his troops in the Netherlands to seize English ships and property about 1568. The Spanish fleet was standing off Southampton and the Walloons were 'pirating' the Spanish vessels. This did not please Elizabeth, who wanted her own 'pirates' to seize the Spanish vessels, which they did, and she kept all the gold that was to go to the Netherlands to pay the Spanish troops. To succeed she moved the Southampton Walloon settlement, which had been greatly decimated by the plague, up to Thorney, far enough inland where they could not badger the Spanish or the royal court.

The second influx was caused by the French Church in London in about 1685. They moved a group of Huguenots from the south up into the Thorney area to "take part in that congregation" to 'bolster' the population. The real reason was that the French Church had been having trouble with the Walloons at Thorney and Norwich for a long time. The Walloons spoke and read a different language, not a patois or dialect or French but their own language, Romand, which is a romance language very like French but said to be much older, and they did not want pastors coming out from London to preach in French so they arranged for their pastors to come from the Netherlands. The French Church wanted to control the Walloons; there was a major conflict with the Walloons at Norwich which can be read about in the introduction to Vol. 1 of the Quarto Series of the Huguenot Society of London (now Great Britain and Ireland). Supposition has it that there were about 1,000 people in the congregation at Thorney at one time but this could mean the area as some of them worshipped in the Church of England parish at Thorney and some were in Crowland, Whittlesey, Eye, and other places within the area.

Huguenot History - http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/4040/hist-hug.htm

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I hope that my findings, can aid others in their search for their ancestors,

Cornwell C. Martin

PBS Encore Airing of National Geographic's "Human Family Tree," 9pm Tuesday, September 1; see schedule for further broadcasts
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/the-human-family-tree-3706...

"On a single day on a single street, with the DNA of just a couple of hundred random people, National Geographic Channel sets out to trace the ancestral footsteps of all humanity. Narrated by Kevin Bacon, The Human Family Tree travels to one of the most diverse corners of the world -- Queens, N.Y. -- to demonstrate how we all share common ancestors who embarked on very different journeys. Regardless of race, nationality or religion, all of us can trace our ancient origin back to the cradle of humanity, East Africa. What did our collective journey look like, and where did it take your specific ancestors? At what point in our past did we first cross paths with the supposed strangers living in our neighborhood? Now, in The Human Family Tree, the people of this quintessential American melting pot find out that their connections go much deeper than a common ZIP code."

After watching National Geographic's "Human Family Tree," you may decide to participate in a parallel research project conducted by the Germanna Foundation. The Germanna DNA Project is coordinating DNA research of Germanna descendants to help us discover our deep ancestry across multiple lines of descent. We know that the Germanna immigrants traveled to America with friends and family. They tended to migrate southward and westward from the Piedmont area of Virginia the same way. Genealogical evidence shows that many of the families intermarried for generations as they migrated, and clues to their deep ancesty is preserved among the patrilineal or matrilineal descendants of these early colonists. Coordinating the sharing of DNA results among descendants has created a unique opportunity through DNA testing to discover the deep ancestry of our Germanna ancestors.

Read more at http://www.germanna.org/dnaproject

Craig,you are right that takes more than the mininimum marker test to draw a conclusive opinion. I think that when you heard Corlee's presentation at the Germana reunion, we did not have all the extended marker updates,that are now present. I had my test extended to the 67 marker level and Corlee had her Edwin Dale Yeager, extended to the 67 marker level, and the other person I believe has done the same extension, but through another lab, and we are waiting for those rsults. Corle, e-mailed me that there was a 64/67 marker match between myself and Edwin Dale, which I believe would be a close match, and when the other persons results are submitted that we will have a better feel of where this is going to lead. There are so many facets to these kind of studies and we should let them play out. I agree that even we do not have an exact match, that this a great start. stay in touch.I think this exciting, and we do need more people to participate.Thanks for your kind words and response. Vaughn Yeager

For years I have believed that the Yager/Yeager families of Nicholas Yager (1717), and the families of Adam Yager of what is Woodstock, VA were related, but had no paper trail to confirm this in fact. I being a descandant of the latter family, had my dna tested through FTDNA,and there have been some positive results that will eventually lead us to a corfirmed opinion that indeed the two families are related. What we need now is for more Germanna folk to have their dna tested. Pleaase support Corlee Morris, in her effort to get as many of the germanna families tested as possible. I think you will find this an exciting adventure.

Vaughn Yeager

Jean(Taylor)Rochelle

Fox/Render. Information and data needed on the marriage of Sarah Render, daughter of Lewis Render, to a Mr Fox before 1800 in or around Orange County, VA. If the information is found on the marriage, what was Mr Fox's first name as well as any other data.

Thank you very much,

Jean Rochelle
7421 Haywood Drive
Houston TX 77061-1505
Phone: 713-649-7223

Email: jeanrochelle1@sbcglobal.net

John Blankenbaker recently wrote a Premium Content article naming many individuals as part of the 1717 Colony. His synopsis of each person (many of whom are not German) was a bit sparse. To take just one example, John wrote:

Hans Georg Majer/Maier/Moyer was sued by Spotswood in 1724 with testimony from Robert Beverley’s son. Since George Moyer was not on the Spotswood headright list, this can be interpreted as indicating that [Robert] Beverley, a partner of Spotswood, having paid for George Moeyer’s transportation. George Moyer had a wife Barbara.

To just a little more spice to this:

1. George Moyer patented 498 acres of "new land" on 28 September 1728 in the great fork of the Rappahannock in Spotsylvania County on the north side of the Robinson River & down the Deep Run. No adjacent owners given. This one of hundreds of patents issued on this day. (Nugent, Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. III, 1694-1732, p. 390 citing Patent Book 14, p. 107). No headrights were used to obtain this patent, meaning he used a Treasury Warrant at 5 shilllings per 50 acres.

2. A patent to John Michael Stolts for 291 acres of new land in Spotsylvania County in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock on the North side of the Robinson River was dated 11 April 1732, and was adjacent to George Moyers. (Nugent, Vol. III, p. 416 citing PB 14, p. 438. For 30 shillings cash. (Again, no headrights).

3. Patent to Peter Weaver for 400 acres on 20 July 1736 in Orange County, in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock River on Deep Run in Orange County (formed from Spotsylvania County by this time), adjacent to Frederick Pamgarner [Bumgardner], John Michael Stolts and George Moyer, for importation of Peter Weaver (himself), Michael Wilhite, John Wilhite, Tobias Wilhite, Mathias Kerckler and Conrad Amberger and also 10 shillings cash. (Nugent, Vol. IV, 1732-1741, p. 114, citing PB 17, p. 125.

4. Patent to Adam Yager for 100 acres in Orange County in the Fork of the Rapidan River, down Beaverdam Run, adjacent to George Moyer, Andrew Kirker and John Motz on 10 June 1737. The reference to Moyer in this case is probably a purchase by Moyer, not his original patent cited above. (Nugent, Vol. IV, p. 134 citing PB 17, p. 135)

If George Moyers' transportation to Virginia was paid by Robert Beverley or any of the other partners of Spotswood, no one seems to have ever used it as of 1741.

Regarding Jemima Yager Moore Kerr! I live around the corner from her and her second husband,Kerr's, grave site. If anyone is interested, Jemima is the ancestor of one of my closest friends who would be able to furnish descendants and details regarding some of her life in the Lee's Summit, Missouri, area.

Jennie O'Connor Magan

Ellis Hitt

Comparing the "Germantown as it may have looked in 1720's" map with the German Town May 1727, I noticed that the First Colony familys' properties do not seem to be in the same location with respect to adjacent properties on the two maps. Does anyone know which map is more correct?

Ellis Hitt

Seeking the surname of Nannie M. Coons born 1845, wife of George Dallas Coons 1842-1885, son of Robertson Coons, resident in Jefferson, Culpeper County at 1870 and 1880 US Census, Clerk of Culpeper County Court, and mentioned in Holtzclaw, _Ancestry and Descendants_ p. 101. trightmy@juno.com Asheville, NC

Also seeking to correspond with others working on Germanna genealogy.

Corlee Ann Morris here. I have just begun learning all of the extras associated with our new Germanna Website.

Germanna Foundation seeks donations to fund trails, amphitheater

By Rhonda Simmons
Culpeper Star-Exponent

Published: July 25, 2009

Imagine camping on historic grounds in a secluded area complete with 170 acres of river frontage.

That’s just what Boy Scout Troop 991 experienced recently near Germanna Community College’s Locust Grove campus, thanks to the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia.

The foundation is in the process of completing a mile of scenic walking trails and an amphitheater for area scouts and youth organizations behind its visitors center along Route 3 in Orange County.

Members dedicated the first part of the hiking trail in honor of Russell and Joan Hitt during the annual reunion held last weekend.

The proposed trail would snake along the Rapidan River and loop around the ruins of an old mill, homes, a general store and cannon sites.

Part of the path even borders an 1830s-era canal, according to Marc Wheat, foundation president.

“Germanna is reluctant at this time to identify the exact historical sites, however, because of concern about possible disturbance of those sites,” according to a statement in the summer 2009 foundation brochure. “There is enough acreage that the forest qualifies as a small wilderness, a great place to be explored by kids of all ages.”

The connection between the foundation and the college began in 1969 when the foundation donated 100 acres to the commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of building the Locust Grove campus.

To complete this project, Wheat is relying on donations and public support.

“We’ve gotten a good start, but then there are plans to extend it so that it will go back onto the far side of our land where we have maybe 100 acres along the river,” he said.

Wheat, who couldn’t give an exact value of the trail system, said the cost depends on donated labor and equipment.

The foundation was created on March 14, 1956. The college held its first classes on Oct. 13, 1970.

http://www.starexponent.com/cse/news/local/orange/article/germanna_found...

As a first-time attendee at a Germanna conference I’d like to extend a big thank you to all who made it such an enjoyable experience. This is an extremely minor detail but it may be of interest to language buffs. One of the speakers referred to the interesting information to be found in death notices and mention was made of cause of death of a child as “strangled.” I would respectfully indicate that this may not be as sinister as it first appears. My grandmother, from east Tennessee, consistently used the word “strangled” to mean getting choked on something, such as “I strangled on a cup of coffee.” It is possible that the child choked/strangled on an object and died.
Cindy Cochran

Siegerlaender Wochenanzeiger, 29 Juli 2009:
Verbindungen suchen. Vom Jahrestreffen der "Germanna Foundation."

Front page article and photo, with a circulation of 220,000 copies.

See the full front page at
http://neu.swa-wwa.de/PDF/29.07.2009/SWA.S01-A-X.29.pdf

Many thanks to our energetic Germanna Foundation Trustee Horst Schneider of Freudenberg, Germany for generating four newspaper articles in the Siegerland about the 2009 Germanna Foundation Conference and Reunion.

In addition to his board work for the Germanna Foundation, he also serves as Vice President of the Heimatbund Siegerland-Wittgenstein, a regional historical society, and is a Trustee on the Board of the German-American Association (GAA) of Siegerland-Wittgenstein.

Siegener Zeitung: Mittwoch, 29. Juli 2009

Oberfischbach und die Apollo 11

Vorfahren des Astronauten Aldrin kamen aus dem Siegerland / 2014 will die Germanna Foundation 300. Jahrestag der Einwanderung feiern

sz Freudenberg/Siegen. An den 40. Jahrestag der Apollo-11-Mission mit der Landung auf dem Mond wird derzeit viel erinnert. Überraschende Verbindungen zur „Monderoberung“ ergaben sich jetzt auf dem Jahrestreffen der amerikanischen Nachfahren der ersten Siegerländer Auswanderer aus dem Jahre 1713, die sich in der Germanna-Foundation zusammengeschlossen haben. Germanna-Präsident Marc Wheat berichtete zur Überraschung der mehreren Hundert Gäste, dass der zweite Apollo-Astronaut der Mondlandung, Edwin „Buzz“ Aldrin, in direkter Linie von Pastor Johann Henrich Haeger abstammt. Haeger war vormals Pfarrer der ev.-reformierten Kirchengemeinde Oberfischbach und nach seiner Einwanderung in die damalige englische Kolonie Virginia Pastor der deutschen reformierten Gemeinde in Fort Germanna.

Dies gehört zu den Ergebnissen genealogischer Forschungen, die die genealogische Gesellschaft „The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc“, kurz Germanna Foundation, seit über 50 Jahren betreibt. Marc Wheat stammt auch von Reverend Henry Haeger ab und war bereits zweimal auf den Spuren seiner Vorfahren im Siegerland.

Auf dem jüngsten Jahrestreffen der Germanna Foundation waren weitere Verbindungen zum Siegerland anzutreffen. Ricarda Ernert aus Oberholzklau, die an einer Universität in den Niederlanden Tourismus-Management studiert, absolviert zur Zeit ein Praktikum bei der Foundation und war in die Vorbereitung und Organisation des Treffens aktiv eingebunden. Das teilte Horst Schneider vom Vorstand der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Gesellschaft Siegerland-Wittgenstein und deutsches Vorstandsmitglied der Germanna Foundation mit. Er betonte auch, Anfragen junger Leute aus dem Kreis wegen eine Praktikums oder eines Au-Pair-Aufenthalts in den USA würden unterstützt. So hat kürzlich Annelie Manche aus Bad Berleburg, ehemalige Abiturientin am Johannes-Althusius-Gymnasium, ein Au-Pair-Jahr in der Familie von Germanna-Präsident Marc Wheat absolviert. Die Nachfahren der ersten Siegerländer Auswanderer treffen sich seit über 50 Jahren einmal jährlich auf dem ersten Siedlungsplatz der Siegerländer namens „Germanna“. Das Wort ist abgeleitet von Germany, wo man herkam, und dem Vornamen der damaligen englischen Königin Anna, in deren Kolonie in der „Neuen Welt“ man eingewandert war. Die 13 Familien mit insgesamt 42 Menschen aus Trupbach, Eisern, Kaan-Marienborn, Oberschelden, Oberfischbach, Niederndorf und Müsen wurden vom damaligen englischen Gouverneur als Bergbau- und Hüttenspezialisten angeworben. Über die Geschichte der Vorfahren und Nachfahren der Einwanderer existiert ein fast 600 Seiten starkes Buch aus dem Jahre 1964 von Prof. Dr. B. C. Holtzclaw. Der stammt übrigens in direkter Linie vom ausgewanderten Hans-Jakob Holzklau und seiner Frau Anna Margarethe Otterbach ab.

Der erste Impuls zur Gründung der amerikanischen „Germanna Foundation“ kam übrigens aus dem Siegerland. Im Jahre 1927 hatten der damalige Pfarrer Heider und der Ortsbürgermeister Klein aus Müsen einen Brief direkt an den damaligen US-Präsidenten Coolidge in Washington geschrieben, um für eine Chronik zum 300. Geburtstag der ev.-reformierten Kirchengemeinde Müsen etwas über das Schicksal der 1713 ausgewanderten Müsener Familien Brombach, Kemper und Martin zu erfahren.

Seit dem Jahre 2003 besuchen jährlich Reisegruppen der Germanna Foundation (25 bis 42 Personen aus vielen Staaten der USA) unter der Reiseleitung von Germanna-Vizepräsidentin Dr. Katharine Brown auf den Spuren ihrer Vorfahren das Siegerland. Gemeinsam übernehmen der Heimatbund Siegerland-Wittgenstein und die Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft Siegerland-Wittgenstein die Programmkoordination und auch Kontakte der Amerikaner zu deutschen Mitbürgern sowie die Unterstützung bei Nachforschungen der Amerikaner im Kreisgebiet.

2014 will man in Germanna gebührend den 300. Jahrestag der Einwanderung der Siegerländer Vorfahren feiern – mit Siegerländer Beteiligung natürlich.

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Dr. Katharine Brown überreichte dem geschäftsführenden Germanna-Direktor, Dr. Frank Turnage, eines der Geschenke aus dem Siegerland für die ständige Ausstellung im Germanna-Besucherzentrum. Foto: DAG
http://www.siegener-zeitung.de/news/sz/de/siegen/1/artikel/95/oberfischb...

Oberfischbach and Apollo 11 [English translation courtesy of Ricarda Ernert, Germanna intern]

Ancestors of astronaut Aldrin born in the Siegerland and the Germanna Foundation will celebrate the 300th anniversary of Immigration in 2014.
The 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission- the landing on the moon- is often recalled. Astonishing connections concerning the moon landing arouse out of the situation at the annual meeting of the American descendants of the first Siegerländer Immigrants in 1713 who founded the Germanna Foundation. Marc Wheat, Germanna’s President, referred in front of hundreds of people that the second Apollo astronaut, Edward “Buzz” Aldrin, is a direct descendant of Pastor Johann Henrich Haeger. Haeger had formally been Pastor of the protestant church of Oberfishback and after his immigration to the former English colony in Virginia, he became pastor of the German reformed community at Fort Germanna.
This has been the result of genealogical research by “The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc.” for 50 years now. Marc Wheat is also a descendant from Reverend Henry Haeger and has already been twice on the trail of his ancestors in the Siegerland.
At the recent annual reunion of the Germanna Foundation you could even run across more connection to the Siegerland. Ricarda Ernert from Oberholzklau, studying International Tourism Management in the Netherlands, is taking a traineeship and helping to organize and prepare the meeting. This Information has been conveyed by Horst Schneider, member of the board of the “Deutsch-Amerikanischen Gesellschaft Siegerland- Wittgenstein” and German board member of the Germanna Foundation.
He stated that requests of young people of Siegen- Wittgenstein interested in the Internship or Au-pair program in the USA would be supported. Lately Annelie Manche, high school graduate of the Johannes-Althusius-Gymnasium in Bad Berleburg, completed her Au-pair year in the family of Germanna’s President Marc Wheat.
The Descendants of the first immigrants from the Siegerland have met annually for over 50 years at the settlement site named “Germanna”. The word “Germanna” deduces from Germany, where they came from, and the name of the English Queen Anna in whose colony they immigrated.
The 13 families consisting of 42 people from Trupbach, Eisern, Kaan- Marienborn, Oberschelden, Oberfischbach, Niederndorf and Müsen were recruited from the former English governor as mining and smelting experts. The history of the ancestors and descendants of the immigrants has been written down in a book by Professor Dr. B. C Holtzclaw in 1964. He is a direct descendant from Hans- Jacob Holzklau and his wife Anna Margarethe Otterbach.
The first Idea about establishing the American “Germanna Foundation” arose from people of the Siegerland. In 1927 Pastor Heider and Major Klein from Müsen wrote directly to President Coolidge in Washington in order to gather information about the emigrated families Kemper, Brombach and Martin which they wanted to publish in a chronicle for the 300th Birthday of the protestant community Müsen.
Since 2003 several parties (25-42 participants from different states) of the Germanna Foundation have traveled to Germany under the leadership of Germanna Vice-president Dr. Katharine Brown to follow their ancestors trails. The Heimatbund Siegerland- Wittgenstein and the Deutsch-Amerikanische Gesellschaft Siegerland-Wittgenstein set up the program for the trip and maintained contact between American and German citizens to support genealogical research in the Siegerland.
The Germanna Foundation will be celebrating their 300th Anniversary in 2014- of course with participants from the Siegerland.

Der Westen - 17.07.2009

Buzz Aldrin
Mond-Mann mit Trupbacher Wurzeln
Wilnsdorf, 17.07.2009, Brigitte Wambsganß

Der zweite Mensch auf dem Mond hat Siegerländer Wurzeln. Die Vorfahren des Astronauten Buzz Aldrin stammen aus Trupbach. Ein Urvater seiner Familie war der Uhrmacher Hans Jacob Richter. Er wanderte 1713 mit Ehefrau Maria Elisabeth, geb. Fischbach, und dem zweijährigen Sohn Johannes in die USA aus.

Die Richters gehörten zu den 12 Siegerländer Familien, die damals in Rotterdam ein Schiff bestiegen, um in Virginia ein neues Leben zu beginnen. Der Eiserfelder Alfred Lück hat ihre Geschichte unter dem Titel „Eisen, Erz und Abenteuer” aufgeschrieben. Danach landeten die Familien aus Trupbach, Müsen, Rehbach, Eisern, Oberschelden und Oberfischbach zunächst in England. Dort mussten sie wegen eines Indianeraufstandes ein Jahr lang auf die Reise über den Atlantik warten.

Ihr Ziel war Virginia. Gelockt hatte sie ein Angebot des englischen Gouverneurs von Virginia, Spotswood. Er suchte Bergleute und Spezialisten für Eisenverhüttung, die einen Hochofen und ein Bergwerk bauen sollten, um die örtlichen Eisenerzvorkommen nutzen zu können. Laut Lück hat er einen Schweizer Baron mit der Anwerbung beauftragt. Dieser schickte den Berghauptmann Albrecht auf die Suche nach Fachkräften. Den Bergleuten und Verhüttungsexperten schlossen sich auch andere Berufe an – Fuhrleute und eben der Uhrmacher Hans Jacob Richter. Speziell für die Siegerländer wurde die Siedlung „Germanna” gegründet. Später zogen sie 20 Kilometer weiter und bauten die Stadt „Germantown” auf.

Intensiv mit den Trupbacher Auswanderern hat sich auch Rudolf Schneider befasst. Er war schon oft zu Gast bei ihren Nachkommen, die den Verein „Germanna Foundation” gegründet haben: „Hans Jacob Richter, der in Trupbach den Hausnamen ,Uhrmeier' hatte, nannte sich in den USA ,Rector' ”, berichtet er. Einer seiner Söhne war ein enger Freund von George Washington, hat Rudolf Schneider erfahren. Überhaupt brachten es die zahlreichen Nachkommen der Trupbacher zu Ruhm und Ehre. Schneider: „Aus der Rector-Familie stammen vier Gouverneure der Bundesstaaten Virginia und Arkansas.” Auch der heutige Präsident der Germanna Foundation, Marc Wheat, ist – so Rudolf Schneider – ein Nachfahre. Die kinderreichen Ur-Siegerländer haben sich überhaupt kräftig vermehrt – sie sollen heute einige hunderttausend Nachkommen haben.

Dass Buzz Aldrin ein Nachkomme von Maria Elisabeth und Hans Jacob Richter war, erfuhr Schneider bei einem Besuch in Virginia. „Rudi, hast Du gewusst, dass einer der beiden ersten Menschen auf dem Mond Vorfahren aus Trupbach hat?” fragte ein Germanna-Mitglied.

Über Generationen entfernte Verwandtschaft hat der ehemalige Astronaut noch in Trupbach. Fritz Bottenberg, dessen Name eng mit dem TSV Siegen verbunden ist, hat die gleichen Urahnen wie der Mann auf dem Mond. „Das geht auf die Linie meiner Mutter zurück – sie stammt aus der gleichen Familie Richter, die in Amerika Rector hieß.”

Auch Fritz Bottenberg hat schon die amerikanische Verwandtschaft besucht. Er freut sich genau wie Rudolf Schneider auf die jährlichen Trips der Germanna Foundation ins Siegerland. Die Amerikaner suchen hier ihre deutschen Wurzeln.

Buzz Aldrin war bis jetzt noch nicht in der Heimat seines Vorfahren. Rudolf Schneider will demnächst über Marc Wheat Kontakt zu ihm aufnehmen: „Der ist ein hohes Tier in der Regierung.”

Foto: Fritz Bottenberg hat die selben Vorfahren wie Buzz Aldrin: khm

http://www.derwesten.de/nachrichten/staedte/wilnsdorf/2009/7/17/news-126...

Moon Man with Trupbach Roots [Translantion by Ricarda Ernert, Germanna Intern]

The second man on the moon has Siegerland roots. Ancestors of astronaut Buzz Aldrin were originally from Trupbach. The prime father of his family was the clockmaker Hans Jacob Richter. He immigrated in 1713 to the USA together with his two year old son Johannes and his wife Maria Elisabeth née Fischbach.
The Family Richter was one of 12 families from the Siegerland who boarded a ship in Rotterdam in order to start a new life in Virginia. Alfred Lück, living in Eiserfeld wrote their history in his book “Eisen, Erz und Abenteuer”. After leaving Rotterdam the families from Trupbach, Müsen, Rehbach, Eisern, Oberschelden and Oberfischbach landed in England. Due to an Indian rebellion they had to wait one year before they could do the journey across the Atlantic. Their destination was Virginia. They had been attracted by an offer of the English governor of Virginia, Spotswood. He was looking for miners and smelting experts who would build a furnace and a mine to be able to make use of the local iron ore sources. According to Lück he charged a Swiss baron with the recruitment. He sent the captain to search for specialists. The miners and smelters were joined by other types of vocations- Waggoner and the clockmaker Hans Jacob Richter. Especially for the Siegerländer immigrants the colony “Germanna” had been created. Later on they moved 20 km and built up the town “Germantown!”.
Rudolf Schneider concentrated on the immigrants from Trupbach. He has been visiting the descendants who founded the “Germanna Foundation”: Hans Jacob Richter changed his name to “Rector” in the USA, he reported. One of his sons was a friend of George Washington, Rudolf Schneider discovered. Generally the numerous descendants achieved eminence. Schneider: Four Governors of the states of Virginia and Arkansas belonged to the Rector family. The present president of the organization, Marc Wheat is also a descendant. The Siegerländer with many children are said to have thousands of descendants nowadays.
Schneider learned about the fact that Buzz Aldrin was a descendant of Maria Elisabeth Fischbach and Hans Jacob Richter during a visit to Virginia. “Rudi, did you know that one of the first men on the moon has its roots in Trupbach?” a member of the Germanna Foundation asked him. The astronaut still has affinity in Trupbach. Fritz Bottenberg, member of the TSV Siegen, has the same ancestors like the man on the moon. “My mother descends from the same family in the USA who named themselves Rector.”
Fritz Bottenberg has visited his American relatives as well. He and Rudolf Schneider are looking forward to the annual trips of the Germanna members to the Siegerland. Here the Americans are in search of their roots. Buzz Aldrin has not been in the homeland of his ancestors, but Rudolf Schneider wants to contact him via Marc Wheat “He’s a big shot in the government”.