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.
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