Probably all of the individuals who have been mentioned so far as members of the Germanna community came directly to Virginia. The word "probably" is a necessity because we do not know the port of immigration of the majority of the people. We are aware though that several of the people, starting about 1730, came through Philadelphia. Some of them stayed for a while in Pennsylvania while others seemed to have moved immediately to Virginia. The later we get in time, the better the odds are that the immigrant came through a port outside of Virginia, either Philadephia or Baltimore.
There is a reason for this pattern. Pennsylvania had good opportunities for the Germans and that is where they wanted to go. The ship owners and captains wanted to meet the needs of their customers. So the majority of the ships and the people started coming to the colonies through Philadelphia. But let it not be said that Philadephia was the only port.
One of the 1717 candidate families was Henry Snyder (Schneider) and his wife Dorothy. In Germany, a daughter, Anna Magdalena was born in 1692 and she married, in 1712, Hans Jacob Öhler (Aylor). However, when the Snyders came, they were not accompanied by their daughter and son-in-law. The Aylors remained in Germany where they had a family of their own: Anna Dorothea, 1713; Anna Barbara, 1715-1717; George Henry, 1718; and Elizabeth Catharina, 1720. Not long after the last of these children, they came to Virginia. Jacob Aylor, as he was probably known, died as a middle-aged man, before 1742. His wife, Anna Magdalena, married John Harnsberger then.
The Aylors are a very clear case where a family was being reunited in Virginia. One motivation for the journey to Virginia is clear; perhaps there are better reasons than we even know. There is no record of Jacob Aylor in Virginia and it may be that Anna Magdalena was a widow when she came.
Another individual who received his land patent in 1728 was Mathias Castler. Perhaps he too came about 1719. He has been found in Germany under the name of Gessler. He left no sons, and his descendants are though the Delph and Klüg families.
Frederick Baumgardner arrived in Philadephia in 1732. He was the nephew of Michael Willheit. This is a clear case where Frederick was traveling with the objective of joining his uncle in Virginia. He was in Orange Co. by 1736 when he received a land patent. Later he was naturalized in 1742. He died in 1746 leaving a widow Catherine, maiden name unknown, and several children.
The next man to be introduced may not be a German but it strongly appears that he married a German woman, a daughter of Robert Tanner. Therefore, his children are entitled to membership in the Germanna community. He was Richard Burdyne or Bordine (more likely the former). He did live in the Robinson River community from an early date and he did contribute financially to the Lutheran Church.
Another early land patent in the Robinson River area was awarded to Lawrence Crees (Christ, Crest) in 1732. The family has been found in Germany and the name there was Greys.
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.