On September 8, 1721, the Lord Commissioners for Trade and Plantations sent a representation to the King [George I] upon the State of His Majesties Colonies & Plantations on the Continent of North America.
The State of Virginia in 1721.
"The Government of this Colony was at first under the direction of a Company; but they being dissolved upon the mal-administration, in the year 1626, His Majesty King Charles the first took the Government into his own hands and settled such laws and constitutions in that province, as were agreeable to those in this Kingdom. Accordingly the nomination & appointment of the Governors, as well as the Council which consists of 12 persons is in your Majesty, & the General Assembly consisting of fifty-two Burgesses has been always chosen by the freeholders.
"The strength and security of this Colony, in a great measure, depend upon their Militia; their plantations being usually at too great a distance from one another to be covered by forts and towns. James Town and Williamsburg are the only Towns [they could be considered as twin cities] in the whole Country; & there is no Fort of any consequence for the security of their great navigation & trade, but at James Town.
"However for their protection against the Indians, who inhabit amongst them, & that live to the Westward they have erected Christianna, & some other Forts; & the Council & Assembly have lately proposed to your Majesty a scheme for securing the passes over the great ridge of Mountains which lie on the back of this Province ..."
The militia in 1690 was 6,570; in 1703, 10,556; and in 1715, about 14,000 in all. The report used the ratio that the militia (all white males 16 to 50) were one-sixth of the whole population; the total number of white inhabitants was computed as 84,000. The entire province is divided into 25 counties but 5 of these counties belong to the late Lord Colepepper. In the King's 20 counties, 2,619,773 acres of land have been taken up. The holders pay an annual quit rent of two shillings [about a day's wages] or 24 pounds weight of tobacco for every hundred acres. The proceeds to the King vary widely because the price of tobacco can vary almost two to one from year to year.
Levies are made upon every person over 16 years of age except white women. In 1714 the number of tithables was 31,540. [From this, one concludes a large fraction of the population was under 16 years of age.]
"The principal product of Virginia is tobacco ... the Virginia planters [have] exported to this Kingdom at least 30,000 hogsheads per Annum ... The other branches of trade between this kingdom & Virginia consist in pitch & tar, pipe & hogsheads staves, skins & furrs, & a few drugs... their dependence is almost wholly on the produce of tobacco."
This material was taken from J.R. Brodhead, " Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York ", edited by E.B. O'Callaghan, vol. V, p.591f, Albany, 1855.
Note that every member of the militia produced about two hogsheads of tobacco. A good trade to be in would be cooperage. Christopher Zimmerman and Frederick Kabler of the Germanna Mt. Pony settlement were coopers. No iron is mentioned in the trade items. Probably the furnaces had not come on line yet. The Second Colony members were involved in the Naval Stores. There is no mention of Fort Germanna, which probably had been destroyed by then so Spotswood could build his home. The trip to and over the Blue Ridge Mountains had been five years earlier and no progress had been made on security. Most likely the Virginians were more motivated by land speculation than by security.
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.