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 […]
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 […]
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 circa 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 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.
Germanna Museum Artifact: John Spotswood
Alexander Spotwood’s oldest son, John, died at the age of 34 and was buried in New Post, Virginia, just southeast of Fredericksburg. His burial site was found by accident in 1931 by Massaponnax Gravel Company workers via a steam shovel. The cast iron marker with John Spotswood’s name is now on display at the […]
BREAKING: Horse Stolen from Col. Spotswood
Okay, maybe the news is 281 years old, but Germanna Foundation President Marc Wheat came across a mention of Germanna and the Iron Works in the January 7, 1736 edition of the Virginia Gazette newspaper about a horse stolen from Col. Spotswood. We wonder if anyone got the “handsome reward” that was offered for the […]
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 […]