There were differences in the immigration patterns of the English and the Germans who came to Virginia. Some of the information on the English can be derived from the head rights shown in Nell Marion Nugent's " Cavaliers and Pioneers ", volume 3 (1695-1732). This period of time overlaps the arrival of the earliest Germanna settlers. Using the surname, Thomas, as a selection guide, there were 36 different male Thomases who were claimed as head rights. This is a lower bound as some who came and perhaps paid their own way may never have claimed their headright to fifty acres of land. From the names in the lists surrounding these 36 Thomas men, one would judge that the source was Great Britain.
During this 37-year period, 13 male Thomases patented land. Within these 13, there were only eight distinctive first names so the 13 is an upper limit on the different individuals who patented land. But using the numbers 13 and 36 though, only 36 percent of the male Thomases made land claims resulting in Virginia land patents. And the 36 percent should probably be smaller as the number 13 should be smaller and the number 36 should be larger. One concludes that the majority of the English immigrants to Virginia were not interested in land. Perhaps they followed trades and jobs which did not require land.
In the same time period of 1695 to 1732 there were only 13 female Thomases. If this ratio holds true for all surnames, then approximately three English men came for every woman. One has to conclude that most of the English Thomas men did not have a wife when they came.
Now let us look at the situation among the Germanna settlers. Of the Germans who came in 1717 (the Second Colony), 48 names are given as head rights by Alexander Spotswood. Exactly 24 of the names are males and 24 names are female names (if I counted correctly). There were definite families, some with three generations, but most commonly with a husband and wife and children. Every family that we can trace eventually owned land, usually by the patent process of taking virgin land from the crown. Several of these individuals had known trades in Germany such as Matthias Blankenbaker, who was a master tailor. Yet he took out patents on 470 acres of land.
We have another excellent sample among the Germans, which overlaps the previous data, in the Spotsylvania Co., VA, proofs of importation, the first step in procuring head rights. Of the twelve men here from the First Colony, all except one named a wife. The exception named his mother. Three families had children. Now, at the actual time of importation in 1714, not all of these men were married, but their wives came at the same time in other families (it is believed, though not proven). Every one of these men became a landowner.
To summarize, the Germans were much more family oriented than the English. It was not an unusual motive among them to seek a better life for their family with an emphasis on their children. The Germans definitely saw land as a part of this process.
It should not be a surprise that German women often found a marriage partner from among the English. Perhaps it would be better to say that the English men found the German women to be attractive. They emphasized family values and the German women were good workers who would help outside the home.
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.