Germanna Foundation Trustee Kristie Kendall wrote an article in The Piedmont Virginia magazine about the Peter Hitt house, which is under the stewardship of the Germanna Foundation: A WINDOW THROUGH TIME Driving through Fauquier County, I am often reminded of the strong German history in the area – signs for Rectortown off Route 17 north […]
Germanna Time Capsule Ceremony
On March 28, 2019, the Germanna Foundation Time Capsule was immured inside a wall in the the new Hitt Archaeology Center, next to the Fort Germanna Visitor Center in Locust Grove, VA. The capsule will be opened in 50 years, in July of 2068, during the Foundation’s 111th annual reunion. Skip Poole, Germanna Foundation Trustee […]
Participate in the Germanna Foundation’s first Time Capsule, to be opened in July 2068
UPDATE: New deadline for submissions is now December 15, 2018. How many people can proudly say that they have personally contributed a very personal and meaningful item into a time capsule to eventually be discovered by yet unborn descendants? WELL, YOU CAN!! The Board of Trustees of the Germanna Foundation has announced a unique opportunity […]
Hilary Duff discovers she is a Spotswood descendant
On a recent episode of the TLC TV series, “Who Do You Think You Are?”, actress/singer Hilary Duff found out that her 7x great-grandfather was early colonial Virginia Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood! Here at Germanna, we knew about this early on but were unable to say anything as we did not know what material they’d […]
Germanna Record 20 Available Again and Now on Kindle
Our book, Germanna Record 20: “Germanna Studies: Essays Honoring John V. Blankenbaker” had been sold out but we have reissued it. The design of the cover and interior pages of the print book have been updated and all photos and graphics in the book enhanced. The book is also now available on Kindle. You can read […]
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 […]
Germanna 101 – History of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia
Germanna Foundation Membership Development Manager Ashley Abruzzo (and Germanna descendant) presents a video overview on the history of the Germanna Colony, a German-speaking settlement that began in 1714 at Fort Germanna at what was then the western-most frontier of Virginia. The Fort was situated between what is now Fredericksburg and Culpeper, Virginia. She also discusses […]
Germanna Descendant in NSA’s Hall of Honor
Parker Hitt, a 3rd great-grandson of Peter Hitt and Elizabeth Otterbach, through Germanna Colonists Harmon Hitt and wife Mary Weaver, is in the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Hall of Honor for being a pioneer in cryptology. Here is the write-up about him on NSA’s website: NSA/CSS Hall of Honor The Hall of Honor was created in […]
Germanna-Named Places in America
Did you know that 79 populated places/towns in America bear Germanna Surnames spread over 31 states? And there are over 1,100 places like public and private buildings, reservoirs, schools, and churches in America with a Germanna name? To name a few on our list of 1,170 entries: Yager Stadium at Washburn University in Kansas Willhoit […]
Germanna Roads in America
Look how many roads and street names in America are Germanna names! Germanna Foundation Treasurer Keith Hoffman did research to find map information for nearly every road in the US and he was able to select roads that contain surnames from the set of lower populations (<15,000 in the US 2000 census). Included in this spreadsheet […]
List of Germanna Names
We’ve compiled a quick-reference list of Germanna names: Germanna Names (pdf) Use this for our Germanna in America project to find photos of signs, billboard, advertisements and other items with a Germanna name in America. We’ll use these photos to to create an exhibit at the Fort Germanna Visitor Center. The names are also listed here: 1714 […]
Germanna First Colony Land Patent Map
Here the land map of Germantown in Fauquier County, Virginia. It shows the schematic outline for individual family tracts on the 1,805 acres of land in 1729. Unfortunately, most of the original land tracts are now under water in modern day Crockett Park, and some are on private land. Presently, we are searching for the […]
Germanna Second Colony Land Patent Map
Here is an early land patent map showcasing where several Second Colony ancestors had land in the Robinson River Valley in Madison County, Virginia. Many of the grants for land patents were between 300-400 acres. Do you see your ancestor’s family name? Click to enlarge.
President Trump’s German Genealogy Tree
President Trump declared October 6, 2017 to be German-American Day and mentioned that he had a German grandfather. Here is his genealogy tree showing his German and Scottish ancestors back to the early 1800s: Trump Genealogy (pdf) His German side:
Germanna in America
We’re collecting photographs of Germanna names throughout America for a display in the Fort Germanna Visitor Center along with a map with pins of where Germanna descendants live. When you see a Germanna name on something like a sign or outdoor advertisement, take a high resolution photo of it with your phone or camera and […]
The Willheit Family: The First Four Generations
Now available to purchase via Amazon or by calling the Germanna Foundation is our latest Germanna Record, #21, called The Willheit Family: The First Four Generations by Germanna Foundation Trustee and genealogist Cathi Clore Frost. This fully documented and annotated book with 660 pages of rich, in-depth Willheit genealogy research that is invaluable for Germanna […]
Germanna families referenced in book
We found extracts of references to Germanna families in Lothar Irle’s book, Siegerländer Persönlichkeiten Und Geschlecter-Lexikon: Hrsg. Aus Anlass Der 750-Jahr-Feier Der Stadt Siegen 1974. Siegen: Selbstverlag des Siegerländer Heimatvereins, 1974. “Johann Henrich H., *Anzhausen 27. 8. 1644, 1690 bis 1703 Konrektor und Pastor zu Siegen, [verheiratet] Siegen 3. 12. 1678 Anna Kath., T. v. Bgm. […]
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 […]
Jump into our gene pool!
August is a great time to jump into our gene pool! FamilyTreeDNA is running a sale on their Family Finder test kit for $69.00 (regularly $99.00) “All of our DNA tests are designed to deliver superior results with the most advanced technology to tackle any genetic genealogy challenge. Plus, our new parental phasing tool allows […]
Actor Neil Patrick Harris Learns of His Germanna Roots on PBS
We were excited to watch the Germanna Foundation’s nation-wide television debut of the “The Pioneers” episode of the PBS series Finding Your Roots. In “The Pioneers” episode, five-time Emmy Award winner Neil Patrick Harris was surprised to learn that one of his ancestors – Gertrud Stuell, an ancestor many Germanna descendants have in common with […]
PBS Series “Finding Your Roots” Episode to Feature Germanna Descendant
This week’s episode of the PBS Series Finding Your Roots, the “Pioneers,” will reveal some interesting German ancestry information about one of the episode’s stars. The show airs for the first time on Tuesday evening, Feb 23rd. Watch it, and then watch here for more… You can also check out the Germanna Facebook page. For […]
