An article about Germanna’s time capsule appeared in the Orange County Review, written by Amber Galaviz: If you could write yourself a letter and open it 50 years from now, what would you say? Or what would you like to tell your future descendants about your life and family? These are questions the Germanna Foundation […]
Anna Jarvis, the Germanna Descendant who Founded Mother’s Day
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 ancestor Johannes […]
The Chalice of Oberfischbach & Germanna
At the Germanna First Colony 300th anniversary celebration, Marc Wheat told those assembled at the Fort Germanna Visitor Center that perhaps the most meaningful object that our members had touched on the Germany trip with the Foundation was the Oberfischbach chalice. It was a chalice used in that parish to administer communion by Rev. Henrich […]
Who Were Germanna’s Founders?
The inspiring history of the Germanna colonies lay nearly forgotten for 200 years. Threads of awareness emerge in the historical writing of professor William J. Hinke c. 1920, in an inquiry to President Calvin Coolidge from Müsen, Germany, in 1927 about descendants of the 1714 emigrants from that village, in the Reformed Church’s commemoration of […]
The Cuntze Family of Niederndorf and Oberfischbach
By Barbara Price The Cuntze / Kuntze / Coons family can be traced back to around 1500 in the village of Niederndorf, located in the parish of Oberfischbach, near the city of Siegen. The family appears to have moved back and forth between Niederndorf and Oberfischbach. (1) The parish of Oberfischbach originated in the 12th […]
The Family of Anna Margreth Otterbach
By Barbara Price In my last article, I discussed the two wives of Hans Jacob Holzklau, Anna Margreth Otterbach and Catherine, maiden name unknown. What do we know about the first wife of Hans Jacob Holzklau, Anna Margreth Otterbach, and her family, namely, her sisters? Anna Margreth Otterbach was one of five daughters of Hermann […]
The Wives of Jacob Holtzclaw
By Barbara Price In all my years of research into my Holtzclaw family, I’ve always wondered about the second wife of Jacob Holtzclaw, the 1714 immigrant. What do we know about his wives and how do we know that he was married twice? Hans Jacob Holzklau was first married to Anna Margreth Otterbach, his childhood […]
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. […]
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 […]
The World’s Languages, in 7 Maps and Charts
This Washington Post article makes several interesting points, including: (1) “Whereas English lags behind in the number of native speakers, it is by far the world’s most commonly studied language. Overall, more people learn English than French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, German and Chinese combined.” (2) “Some language skills could be more rewarding than others. If you […]
Research links Germanna CC employee to original Germanna settlement as 300th anniversary nears
Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star, June 20, 2014 Jean Rice found herself drawn to a strip of land off State Route 3, also known as Germanna Highway, in Orange County near the Rapidan River. Again and again she drove past the site of the original 18th century Germanna fort and settlement without knowing its history or realizing […]
Preserving Our Land
By J. Marc Wheat The following prepared testimony was presented on April 15, 2011 before the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors in Warrenton, Virginia, under the agenda item “A Work Session Regarding Germantown with Marc Wheat, President, Germanna Foundation.” Thanks to the financial and volunteer support of the members of the Germanna Foundation, the Foundation […]
The Historic Gardens of Salubria
Under the Garden Club of Virginia’s 2010 William D. Rieley Fellowship, scholar of landscape architecture, Sonia Brenner (UVA MLA 2010), spent 3 months researching the garden and landscape at Salubria. The following is a summary of her fascinating report, SALUBRIA: AN INTERPRETATION OF ITS GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE HERITAGE, which can be read in its entirety […]
Germanna’s Trip to Germany—a Family Historian’s Dream
By Leslie Hall Fall 2011 Germanna Newsletter For any genealogist there can be nothing more exciting than actually seeing where one’s ancestors lived, to walk in their footsteps, and to imagine what their life must have been like. For me, the trip to Germany with my fellow Germanna travelers was all about that but so […]
The 1715 Jacobite Rebellion and Germanna
by John Blankenbaker As a result of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 in Scotland, George Hume spent nearly all of his adult life in Virginia where he became a respected surveyor including areas inhabited by Germanna people. Also, he was an ancestor of several Germanna families that makes him of special interest to Germanna historians. […]
Culpeper Star Exponent Article on Stevensburg, Salubria, Germanna
By ZANN MINER Published: December 15, 2008 Culpeper Star Exponent Ah, Stevensburg, the once flourishing crossroads of young America! Our path will leave present-day Route 3 with a left turn onto York Road (Route 600) just after the rock quarry; immediately on the left is St. Stevens Baptist Church. Stevensburg may seem insignificant now, but […]
John Fontaine and The First Germanna Colony, Part III
And Then What Happened? John Fontaine Part III Further Insights Into John Fontaine and The First Germanna Colonyⓒ By Craig M. Kilby May 2009 Part I | Part II Part III And Then What Happened? Having brought John Fontaine’s story this far, it would not be fair to ignore the rest of it. Unless otherwise […]
John Fontaine and The First Germanna Colony, Part II
Did Someone Say Miners? Golden Horseshoes? John Fontaine Part II By Craig Kilby May 2009 Part I Part II Fontaine’s Two Trips to Germanna Before we resume with John Fontaine’s journal and his first trip to Germanna, a brief background of the site itself is necessary for those readers not necessarily well versed in its […]
John Fontaine and The First Germanna Colony, Part I
Further Insights Into John Fontaine and The First Germanna Colony, Part Iⓒ By Craig M. Kilby May 2009 Part II | Part III In 1853, Miss Ann Maury (1803-1876)1 [2] wrote Memoirs of a Huguenot Family which included a much abridged version of John Fontaine’s journal, which she had transcribed from the original. It was […]
Mother’s Day: A Celebration rooted in a Germanna mother’s life
by Dr. Katharine L. Brown 1st Vice President and Trustee, Germanna Foundation The mother in whose honor Mother’s Day was established was a Germanna descendant born and raised in Culpeper, Virginia. Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother’s Day, devoted years to gaining national recognition for a day to honor mothers, as a fulfillment of an […]
