What are the Germanna Colonies? The term has never been defined precisely and different individuals would define it differently. I am defining a Germanna colonist as a person of at least partial Germanic extraction who lived in the modern Virginia counties of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, and Rappahannock. The earliest ones also lived in other counties, generally on a temporary basis. It is important to note this as some records are to be found in Essex, Spotsylvania, Orange, Stafford, and Prince William Counties.
Some of the Germanna colonists came directly to Virginia, but others came by way of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, the Carolinas, or even Georgia. One of the lessons we learn is that there was more communication among the citizens of the different colonies than we have thought. They were not isolated.
While the primary emphasis is on the Germanna colonists as defined above, I hope these notes might be interesting to others who may have a knowledge of some of the individuals, especially as they may have lived in a geographical area outside the narrowly defined one above.
Sometimes a topic can be made to be of interest to both Germanna descendants and to others. If it can be, then all the better. For example, the information described in recent notes on the Hebron Lutheran Church Register are typical of what may be found in other church records; however, caution is advised before applying the results described for the Hebron Register to other churches.
The primary emphasis of these notes is the Germanna Colonies, but the opportunity to describe a broader situation is welcomed, especially within the context of the Germanna people.
Many of the Germans married outside their race and language at a very early date. Apparently, not many years after her immigration to Virginia, Catherine Tanner married Richard Burdyne who, himself, is not thought to be of German origin. Her descendants qualify as Germanna colonists, I would say. There were many mixed language marriages and many people qualify as a Germanna descendant even though their name may not be a clue to these origins.
There were differences in the English and German immigration patterns as to the type of people who came, their sex, family status. These differences are one of the reasons that there were so many mixed marriages.
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.