John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 28

Starting in 1724, and extending through 1726, Spotswood sued many of the Germans, claiming they owed him money, though the basis of the suits has never really been clear.  Some believe the suits were to prevent the Germans from moving away from his land to land of their own.  It does seem that the foundation on which his claims were based was weak.  For example, he sued Conrad Amburger for 32 pounds sterling and a jury of Spotswood's peers awarded Spotswood under 3 pounds sterling.  More than anything, the suits say something about the character of Spotswood.

Right now, though, we are more interested in whom he sued, and not the reason why.  These are the men:

Conrad Ambergey,
Andrew Ballenger,
Balthasar Blankenbaker,
Matthias Blankenbaker,
John Nicholas Blankenbaker,
John Broyles,
Michael Clore,
Michael Cook,
Jacob Crigler,
Cyriacus Fleshman,
Michael Holt,
George Moyer,
Phillip Paulitz,
George Sheible,
Michael Smith,
Henry Snyder,
George Utz, and
Nicholas Yager.

There is quite a bit of overlap between the Gemmingen list and the importation list.  Both of these are thought to consist of 1717ers.  The assumption is usually made that all of the men who were sued by Spotswood came in 1717.  This adds more names to the list.

Many of the men, who are on one or more of the three lists above, received their patents to land in 1726.  Therefore, the names of men receiving land in 1726 adds another dimension; however, only one new set of names is added, John Thomas and his brother Michael Thomas, both of whom were under age, but did receive land in 1726.  It is not known whether their father, another John Thomas, came or not.  His wife did, because she eventually became the wife of Michael Kaifer, by whom she had five children.  The argument that the Thomases came with the 1717ers rests on the fact that Anna Maria Thomas was the sister of the three Blankenbaker men, and the daughter of Anna Barbara Fleshman, who all came.  If Anna Maria and her family stayed a while longer in Germany, they were the only members to do so.

Among the land records, Conrad Amberger (Amburgey) received his land patent in 1728, but it was located in another area where the surveyor may have been delayed.  He was sued by Spotswood.  Andrew Kerker did not get his patent until 1728, but it may have been delayed by the fact that it was for more than 400 acres.  In these cases, approval of the Council of Virginia was required.  Kerker's land was in the midst of the 1717ers, and could not have been staked after the others had staked theirs.  George Lang did not get his land until 1732, and this is another reason that he is a doubtful Second Colony person.

Spotswood, in his letter to Col. Harrison, said there were seventy-odd Germans.  I believe the Germans later said about 80 had come in 1717, but they were notorious for simplifying their presentations.  The number of candidates above for membership in the Second Colony is about 90.  Getting the count down to 80 would be very hard because the rationale for eliminating anyone is difficult.  Some of the people have better evidence than others to support their case but a definitive list will probably always allude us.