Graffenried wrote that the Germans left London in January of 1714 (new style). He had already left for Switzerland, again by sneaking out of the country. Before Graffenried left London, he wrote an apologetic letter to Spotswood in which he suggested that the Germans could be put to work on the silver mine that they had together. Of course, Graffenried was now out of the picture as a manager but he perhaps had hopes that the mine would prove profitable and his one-sixteenth ownership would be significant.
Col. Blakiston also wrote to Spotswood and outlined the deal that had been made in Spotswood's name. Spotswood received this letter before the Germans arrived. He had a mixture of emotions. First, he interpreted Blakiston's actions as meaning that Blakiston was near to a solution on the precious metal question. For this reason, he was happy. But he was also very nervous because the status of foreigners was not clearly defined and he could be charged with importing foreigners. In his answers, he was emphatic that they were Protestants. He also mentioned that they were the Germans who had been recruited by Graffenried for his mining enterprise which had been approved by the Queen. After putting out these disclaimers of any wrong doing on his part, he told Blakiston they would have to make the best of the situation. He called the Fort and the location Germanna after Queen Anne and the Germans. This might be interpreted as another play on his part to protect himself.
When the Germans arrived in April, Spotswood was ready with a plan, namely the plan that he proposed two years earlier. He would use the Germans to buffer the English from the Indians. Since this could be considered a civic duty to the state, Virginia should help pay for locating and maintaining the Germans. The Council approved the plan and the expense. The site, by today's features, is where Germanna Community College is located along Route 3 at the Rapidan River in northeast Orange County. At the time, Spotswood described the location as twenty miles beyond the usual course of the Rangers. A simple fort was built for them and it was nestled in the horseshoe bend of the Rapidan River in that area.
Spotswood described all of this is his letters to the Lord Commissioners, but he omitted one little detail. He did not tell them that the silver-mine patent in which he was part owner was only a few miles away from the Fort and he hoped to have the Germans work on this.
Spotswood was very adept at mixing public policy with his private purposes. Since the Germans could be considered his indenture servants, he would have to pay their tithes to the Church of England. So he had Virginia set up a special church district or parish for the Germans in which there were no tithes. Also he could be expected to provide support to the Germans. Again, he had Virginia designate the area around Germanna as off limits for hunting to everyone except the Germans. Thus they should be able to support themselves with their hunting.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.