Germanna Foundation

Preserving the historic heritage of the original settlers of the Fort Germanna Colonies in Virginia

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You are here: Home / Germanna Blog / How I Came to Germanna
How I Came to Germanna

How I Came to Germanna

June 10, 2016 By 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 tradition, John Joseph Martin and Peter Hitt married sisters whose parents were Hermann Otterbach and Elizabeth Heimbach, which means that my adoptive and biological fathers were eighth cousins. My story is thus the story about a wonderfully rich Germanna ancestry.

My adoptive family in America begins with John Joseph Martin and Mary Catherine Otterbach who were members of Germanna’s  First Colony of 1714. They eventually established their home at Germantown, Virginia. John Martin, the son of Joseph and Catherine Holtzclaw Martin, married Sarah Jeffries, and they moved from Fauquier County, Virginia to Shelby County, Kentucky in the 1780s. Their daughter, Elizabeth Martin, married John Martin, the son of Peter and Sarah Redding Martin, and they moved from Shelby County, Kentucky to Washington County, Indiana in the early 1800s. John Richard Martin, the son of Lemuel Daniel and Welthy Gilstrap Martin, married Malinda Hauger, and they moved from Washington County, Indiana to Furnas County, Nebraska in the late 1880s. Ralph W. Martin, the son of Jacob Lemuel and Emma Catherine Andre Martin, married Alice Joyce Johnston, and they moved from Superior, Nebraska to Dinuba, California in 1937. Their son, Roy Martin, moved to Chico, California, and married Priscilla Jane Wyckoff. Unable to have children, they adopted me in 1960.

My biological family in America begins with Peter Hitt and Elizabeth Otterbach who were also members of Germanna’s First Colony of 1714 and who also lived at Germantown, Virginia. Their son, Henry Hitt, married Alice Katherine Holtzclaw, and they moved from Halifax County, Virginia to Edgefield County, South Carolina in the 1780s. From there, John and Frances Banks Hitt moved to Washington County, Georgia and then to Cape Girardeau County, Missouri in the early 1800s. Their daughter, Mary Katherine Hitt, married John Randol, and my Randol line from Samuel Harker Randol and Cynthia Caroline Whitney to Trusten Polk Randol and Cynthia Ann Giboney to Silas Almond Randol and Etta Iona Turner continued to live in either Cape Girardeau County or in neighboring counties well into the 1900s. Irene Randol married Arville Walter Meyer, and they moved from Missouri to various parts of the country, eventually settling in Northern California in the 1950s. Their son, Herman Aaron Meyer, met Virginia Dee Root in the spring of 1959 while working in Chico, California.

In 2013 I learned the full truth of my Germanna ancestry when I was reunited with my biological father. That my two fathers, Roy Martin and Herman Aaron Meyer, were eighth cousins was certainly a surprise to me, yet it shows the richness of the Germanna legacy in America. Indeed, my story is an unusual one, in that I came to Germanna twice. Once by adoption. Another by biology.

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Filed Under: Germanna Blog, People

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Germanna Foundation’s Mission and Stewardship

The Germanna Foundation tells America’s story of liberty through the frontier experience of her settlers and descendants using archaeological, historical, and genealogical research and interpretation. We are stewards over these important properties:

  • Fort Germanna Visitor Center campus which includes a Museum, Genealogy Library, the Hitt Archaeology Center, and the Germanna Memorial Garden
  • Siegen Forest – 170-acre Hiking and Nature Trails along the Rapidan river
  • 1714/1717 Fort Germanna Archaeology Site
  • Virginia Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood’s home “Enchanted Castle” Archaeology Site
  • 1757 Georgian-style Salubria Manor
  • 1800 Peter Hitt Farm

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The Germanna Foundation
MAILING: P.O. Box 279
LOCATION: 2062 Germanna Highway
Locust Grove, VA 22508-0279
Phone: 540-423-1700
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Fort Germanna Visitor Center, Museum & Library

2062 Germanna Highway (Route 3)
Locust Grove, VA 22508
(Next to the Germanna Community College campus)

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
CLOSED Saturday and Sunday

Advanced reservations are required to use the library. Research time limited to 2 hours.

Masks are required in the Visitor Center at all times. Please maintain 6 feet distance. Limit of 4 people in the library; 5 people in the museum.

Out of town visitors are urged to call us at 540-423-1700 to confirm or to make special arrangements for groups.

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Behind the Fort Germanna Visitor Center is our 170-acre Siegen Forest nature and hiking trails along the Rapidan river. Trails continue to be OPEN. When visiting the trails, please practice “Leave no Trace” ethos and maintain proper social distancing. If you enjoy the trails, consider donating to the Germanna Foundation to help support their upkeep.

 

About

The Germanna Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring the Colonial Virginia frontier via the historic 1714 Fort Germanna and its German colonists and their descendants.

It conducts archaeological exploration and conservation, genealogical research and publishing, and historic preservation and interpretation.

The Foundation owns and maintains several historic sites and properties, such as Salubria Manor, that were part of or closely connected to the Germanna colonies, the town of Germanna, and the other early colonial Virginia settlements and towns in the Piedmont area of Virginia.

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