Who were the forty-two people who were settled in Fort Germanna? Most of the names are clear but one family is a surmise. The first individual is Johann Justus Albrecht who recruited the miners and described himself as the chief miner. He was known to be working with the group later in Virginia so he should be counted. After the stay at Germanna was ended, he was not associated with the group. For the following names, the suggestion of B.C. Holtzclaw, a modern writer, is used. He gave 42 names which would make 43 names with the addition of Albrecht.
Even so, Holtzclaw's list is as good a starting point as any.
Names 2-5 Rev. Henry Hager, his wife Anna Catherine Friesenhagen, and their daughters, Agnes, b. 1697, and Anna Catherine, b. 1702. The two daughters were 16 and 11 while the parents were 69 and 50 when they arrived. This definitely made Rev. Hager the senior citizen in the group.Names 6-9 Jacob Holtzclaw, b. 1683, his wife Anna Margaret Utterback, b. 1686, and their two sons, John, b. 1709, and Henry, b. 1711. Besides the German spelling of Holtzclaw, the spelling of Holsclaw and other variants are used. Jacob Holtzclaw had been a teacher in Germany. While he did keep school in Virginia, he was also involved in farming and mining.
Name 10 Melchoir Brumbach was a bachelor when he came, age ca. 28.
Names 11-15 Joseph (Jost) Cuntze, b. 1674, and his wife Anna Gertrud Reinschmidt, son, John, b. 1706; daughter, Ann Elizabeth, b. 1708; daughter, Catherine, b. ca 1713/14. There is a possibility that Catherine should not be counted in the 42 people. Two popular modern spellings are Coons and Koontz.
Names 16-21 Philip Fischbach (now Fishback) was b. 1661 and came with his wife Elizabeth Heimbach (Hanback); son, John, b. 1691; son, Harmon, b.1693; daughter, Mary Elizabeth, b.1687; and daughter, Mary Elizabeth, b. 1696.
Much of this information comes from the church records in the Nassau-Siegen area. Many of the families took out proofs of importations at the Spotsylvania Courthouse in which they declared who came. And they bought land in the region that eventually became Fauquier Co.
Rev. Hager and Jacob Holtzclaw were the best educated, but it appears that all of the men had received schooling.
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.