The Reiner family, with which the last note closed, is an excellent example of how many of our German ancestors came with a purpose and an informed knowledge of what they were going to do. In many cases, emigrants left Germany with large uncertainties about their futures. We have to be thankful that they had the courage to do so. But in the case of the Reiners, there was a plan. When Hans Dieterich Reiner came in 1750, with his family, he was being united with his sister who had left in 1717. This also illustrates how strong family ties were.
Johannes Rehlsbach (John Railsback), b.1731 at Eisern, southeast Siegen, arrived in 1750 with several other people from the Nassau-Siegen region. By 1756 he was a foot-soldier in Culpeper Co., VA and commenced a long series of land transactions in Culpeper Co. He married Elizabeth Thomas of the Second Colony. In 1788 he moved to Kentucky where he apparently lived until about 1795. John's brother Henry (Johann Henrich) came with his wife, Anna Maria Euteneur, whom he married in 1757 in Eisern. They came to America with a first record in a 1762 land record in Culpeper Co. They moved to Rowan Co., NC where she died in 1786.
George Row (or Rowe) is mentioned several times in connection with the German families but he may have been English. He was a witness to the will of Richard Burdyne along with John Clore, Peter Clore and John James. Richard Burdyne is believed to have married the German, Catherine Tanner.
Henry Sluchter was the stepson of Cyriacus Fleshman, and a half-brother of the Blankenbakers and Fleshmans, and came with them in 1717. He married Sarah. B.C. Holtzclaw says that Henry Sluchter deeded land to John Shafer in 1749. Very little is known about the man. His appearances in the records are minimal. What became of him is unknown and he is a major hole in enumerating the descendants of Anna Barbara Schöne, his mother.
Just because men share the same surname does not mean that they are related. There was a series of Snyders, or Sniders, in Culpeper Co., VA who probably were not related. Henry Snider came in 1717. John Snyder first appears in Virginia in 1742, when he witnessed the will of Michael Wilhoite, a Germanna pioneer. John Snyder's will of 1760 names three sons and five daughters. Very often, witnesses of wills are related to the maker of the will but no relation is known between Snyder and Wilhoite.
Phillip Snyder married Margaret Cook, the daughter of Michael Cook, the 1717 colonist. Phillip died about 1795 leaving four sons and three daughters.
The name Souther, which is probably Sauder/Sauter in German, needs more research. The mother of John Michael Smith, Sr.'s, first wife was a Sauter. In its own right, the name Souther appears in 1748 when Henry Souther was granted 324 acres on German Ridge. Chain carriers were Daniel Crisler (?) and Steven Harnsburger. In the 1787 Culpeper tax list, there are Jacob and Michael Souther. Jacob's name occurs at the Hebron church records.
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.