By HEIDI BAUMSTARK
VIRGINIA WINE GAZETTE
2011
“The past is not the property of historians; it is a public possession. It sustains the whole society, which always needs the identity that only the past can give,” notes Dr. Walter Havighurst.
And learning about one’s past—and the sense of identity that it brings—is one of the driving forces behind the Germanna Foundation.
If those roots stem from Germany, then the Germanna Foundation, with a beautiful visitor center in Orange County, offers a boatload of information about early 18th century immigrants who helped sprout the spirit of freedom in America and played an instrumental role in developing Virginia when the colony was still under British rule.
The Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc. (known as the Germanna Foundation), is a 501c (3) nonprofit founded in 1956 by descendants of two German colonies that came to Virginia in 1714 and 1717.
And, since 1949, German descendants have come together from around the globe to celebrate their heritage and the contributions their ancestors made to the building of America.
Rogers Ford Winery
This year, the annual weekend was July 15-17, with the reunion dinner and auction held in Remington at the Inn at Kelly’s Ford. A trip to a local winery was also on the agenda.
Weekends typically consist of traveling to historic homes, sites, cemeteries and churches and learning how to conduct research in special conference sessions.
There are special dinners, a children’s camp at a historic 18th century home called Salubria, which is owned by the foundation and is located in Culpeper County.
The final evening culminates in a banquet and lively auction on Saturday night with generous heapings of warm fellowship and friendly “gemütlichkeit.”
On July 15, the group hopped on a bus and toured Rogers Ford Farm Winery in Sumerduck, in Fauquier County, that is on property once owned by Kemper, one of the first German immigrants who came to Virginia in 1714.
The winery not only has Germanna roots from the Kemper family, but also has Civil War drama as an added layer. A relative of Confederate General, and 37th Governor of Virginia, James Lawson Kemper owned the property.
One of the early larger scale cavalry battles in the state was the Battle of Kelly’s Ford, which erupted on March 17, 1863.
It set the stage for the June 9, 1863, Battle of Brandy Station, which is considered to be the most severe cavalry fight of the entire war, as well as the largest to ever take place on American soil.
Carlotta Puckett, who now owns the winery with her husband, organized the tour and luncheon. Visitors saw Kemper’s Dam on the Rappahannock River between Fredericksburg and Kelly’s Ford, and ate lunch by the flowing water.
The group had a chance to reflect how the Kempers must have felt as they toiled and tried to acclimate to a new land. Puckett’s son and daughter-in-law, John and Adriana Puckett, now own the circa 1825 Kemper house on the vineyard’s property overlooking the beautiful Rappahannock River.
Gerald Kemper traveled from Georgia to attend the weekend’s events. A descendent of the Kempers, he said, “My relative, [James] Lawson Kemper, was the governor of Virginia after the War Between the States, which was sometimes called the ‘Recent Unpleasantness.’”
Historian Dr. Katharine Brown of Staunton — who is a Rector descendant of the 1714 group — said, “We enjoyed a lovely time; we got a wonderful tour of the vineyard and tasted some of their great wines.”
Reenactment featured
Germmana Foundation’s 1860s “Old Virginia” Remembrance Banquet and Auction at the Inn at Kelly’s Ford. Photo by Heidi Baumstark
Paula Johnson, a Germanna trustee, explained there were two main waves of Germans that came to Virginia via London under British Queen Anne’s rule.
Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood (circa 1676-1740) selected the name, “Germanna,” which reflected the Germans who sailed the Atlantic waters and Queen Anne who ruled during the time of the first 1714 settlement.
This year’s annual Germanna reunion had a Civil War theme to bring back “Old Virginia” in the 1860s and to inspire guests to remember that Spotswood’s descendant was Confederate General Robert E. Lee and that many descendants served both the Union and Confederacy, including those enlisted in the Black Horse Cavalry, Little Forks Rangers and Mosby’s Rangers.
Reenactors portraying the 4th Virginia Cavalry (Black Horse Cavalry) dazzled the crowd with their glittering sabers and gallant rides on the inn’s green lawn.
On the evening of July 16, the reunion continued with a pageantry of horses, strolling fiddlers and ladies in Civil War period dresses.
Reenactors portraying the 4th Virginia Cavalry (Black Horse Cavalry) dazzled the crowd with their glittering sabers and gallant rides on the inn’s green lawn.
Other outdoor activities included an artillery drill and firing demonstration with Kelly’s Ford’s 12-pound Napoleon cannon, period music by Evergreen Shade and South Fork and reenactors portraying Colonel and Mrs. John Singleton Mosby and Belle Boyd, one of the Confederacy’s most notorious spies.
Inside the hall at the inn, guests were able to admire an antique gun collection, an authentic ladies’ fan display and participate in a quilt raffle and silent and live auction. Puckett poured more wine tastings at the dinner for guests.
A little history
The first shipload of Germans arrived in April 1714 from the Siegerland area in Germany (modern-day North Rhine Westphalia) and consisted of 12 families, a total of 42 people.
Some family names are: Rector, Hitt, Holtzclaw, Otterbach, Fischback/Fishbach, Weaver and Koontz.
They came to work for Spotswood who created Fort Germanna, a pentagon-shaped fort near the Rapidan River constructed with wooden fencing to protect them from Native Americans.
Since this first group came from an area in Germany known for iron production, they were instructed to search for iron ore on Spotswood property, so, until December 1718, they worked at mining and quarrying.
The site of the Germanna fort is near the grounds of the Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center, which was thoughtfully designed to mimic this early fort. The visitor center is located next to the Germanna Community College’s Locust Grove campus in Orange County.
After completing their years of service committed to Spotswood, in 1719, they moved to Germantown in southern Fauquier County and created the county’s first permanent settlement. A deed was signed in 1718 by these early families, granting them land on the Licking Run.
The second wave of colonists arrived by ship in 1717 from the agricultural villages in the Kraichgau area of Baden-Württemberg.
In 1726, this group moved to land in the Robinson River Valley in present-day Madison County and in 1740 formed Hebron Lutheran Church, the oldest continuously running Lutheran Church in America. Some names from this second group include Amburger, Blankenbaker, Merkle, Fleischmann, Clore, Smith and Weaver.
J. Marc Wheat of Arlington is the president of the Germanna Foundation. His ancestors are part of the first group who came in 1714, which consisted of Rev. Henry Haeger, the Fishback family and John Jacob Rector, an elder at the church formed at Fort Germanna. “The base of our members includes descendents, but anyone is welcome to join to support our mission of honoring our historic heritage,” Wheat said.
He also highlighted Salubria, the 18th century brick mansion located seven miles east of the town of Culpeper. Built circa mid-1740s, it is the oldest brick house in the county.
After Spotswood died in 1740, Reverend John Thompson, rector of Little Fork Church from 1740-1772, pursued his widow, Lady Butler Brayne Spotswood. The pair married on November 9, 1742 and made Salubria, which means “healthful” in Latin, their home.
Wheat said top archaeologists are thrilled at the quality of Salubria and have recently discovered it is older than James Madison’s Montpelier in Orange County.
Cathi Clore Frost traveled from Oregon to attend the reunion. She is a descendant of Michael Clore (recorded as Hans Michael Klaar in Gemmingen, Baden), who was a vine dresser and came with the second group of immigrants in 1717.
Since this second wave of immigrants came from an agricultural background, “We suspect that members of the 1717 group brought grape vines with them,” she said.
Danica Junker also attended and is a German exchange student staying with the Wheat family. She said, “It’s so nice to see so many people from all around the country, all with a common bond.”
And it’s that common bond that keeps the Germanna Foundation alive, always striving to learn more and protect the rich heritage of German colonists who helped build our nation.
The Brawdus Martin Germanna Visitor Center is located at 2062 Germanna Highway in Locust Grove. More information can be found by calling 540-423-1700 or visiting their website at www.germanna.org.
Rogers Ford Farm Winery is located at 14672 Rogers Ford Road in Sumerduck. They can be reached at 540-439-3707 and the website is www.rogersfordwine.com.
Heidi Baumstark is a part-time reporter for a newspaper covering western Prince William County and parts of Fauquier County, where she specializes in writing history-related articles for the region.