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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Join the Germanna DNA Project
Since 1956, the Germanna Foundation has published hundreds of years of genealogy across thousands of pages in twenty volumes of research and is in the process of expanding our database of over 100,000 known descendants. Now, modern science has developed the new tool of DNA testing to expand beyond the limits of genealogy, as Dr. Spencer […]
New Genealogy Database of Germanna Descendants
The Germanna Foundation has a new data-rich genealogy website database of Germanna descendants at GermannaFamily.org. The database is a project of Germanna Foundation Trustee and Genealogist Cathi Clore Frost. To access the database, you must be a paid member of the Germanna Foundation (Become a Member/Renew Your Dues securely online). Annual membership dues are only $35 per year […]
“Rectors Remembered” Donated to Foundation
Thank you to Laura Wayland-Smith Hatch, who announced that she is donating her recently released genealogical compilation, “Rectors Remembered” to the Germanna Foundation. The compilation reflects almost 10 years of work and consists of 8 volumes and more than 5,000 pages. Laura’s work is available on Amazon, and we’re sure that Rector descendants will find […]
Johannes Walk’s Homecoming, October 19th, Clemmons, NC
The gravestone of Johannes Walk (b & d 1769) will be returned to his home church of Friedberg Moravian Church near Winston-Salem, North Carolina during the homecoming worship service on October 19, 2014. The public is invited. Johannes Walk lived only for a few months, but we remember him – he is related to nearly […]
Did you ever wonder how the 1714 colonists were related?
Here’s a chart that shows the interrelatedness of the Germanna Colonists upon arrival, April 1714. Marriages reflecting the ancestry of the husband, wife or both. How to Use the Table: Find your ancestor and look along his or her row. Anyone with an H or W in a shared column is a cousin of yours through […]
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 […]
Are you related to the founder of Mother’s Day?
Did you know that the founder of Mother’s Day and her mother whom she was celebrating were Germanna descendants? Find out if you are related to her by reading this article by Dr. Katharine Brown. Consider making a donation to the Germanna Foundation in honor of your own mother. Mug: Germanna Descendant by GermannaGeschaft View Germanna […]
1942 Book: Fisher Genealogical History
A reader who is a direct descendant of Ludwig Fisher sent the Germanna Foundation a link to an online 1942 book by Gertrude Fisher Harding called, “Fisher Genealogical History.” You can read the book in various format by clicking on this link or view it here. Below is the text format to help with keyword searching […]
