(Dale Duvall/Culpeper Times) Virginia Colonial history will be re-visited as horseback riders from across the United States gather to re-enact Colonial Governor Alexander Spotswood’s Transmontaine Expedition up and over the then imposing Blue Ridge Mountains. It was 300 years ago that this expedition paved the way and began the never ending westward expansion of America. Starting […]
Germanna and the War for Independence
As we celebrate Independence Day, let us remember the many Germanna-related individuals who served as patriots during the Revolutionary War, helping to earn the liberty we celebrate today. An important part of the story of Germanna and the Revolutionary War is that of the Culpeper Minute Men, organized by recruits from modern-day Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, […]
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 […]
Mother’s Day history
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 […]
60th Anniversary of the Germanna Foundation
March 14, 2016 is the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Germanna Foundation! To celebrate, we’re making available a free pdf of Germanna Record #9 that tells the whole interesting story of how the Foundation was created. The dedication in this 1966 book still applies: “To the undaunted few who changed the old world […]
Remembering Pearl Harbor and Germanna’s Own
Pearl Harbor Day is a time of remembrance for Americans. At 7:55 and 42 seconds, on the morning of December 7th, 1941, thousands of unsuspecting Americans were killed in a surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. It was the bloodiest foreign attack on U.S. soil in the modern war era, until […]
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 […]
45th Anniversary of a Germanna Descendant on the Moon
The year 2014 not only marks the 300th anniversary of Germanna in America but July 20, 2014 marks the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing by Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Astronaut and Germanna descendant Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin is a direct descendant of the Rev. Henry Häger, the German […]
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 […]
Today in 1714: Virginia Gov. Spotswood takes note of new colony of Germans
Three hundred years ago today, on April 28, 1714, the official records of the Colony of Virginia take notice of a small group of Germans to be settled at a place called Germanna on the Rapidan River: “The Governor acquainting the Council that Sundry Germans to the number of forty two men women & children who […]
