In the last note, the word "Oade" is known to us as "woad" and, if that does not ring a bell, then the scientific name is "Isatis tinctoria". Oade is a plant from which a blue dye is obtained from the leaves. "Madder" or Rubia tinctorium is another dye source plant used for orange to reddish colors.
In addition, oade is a medicinal plant as the leaves are astringent and styptic. It was used as a wound herb. Ancient Britons dyed their bodies with oade. The plant is not native to Britain being more commonly found in eastern Europe but it spread in prehistoric times to all of Europe. So maybe your ancestors helped carry it to the north and west in their migrations (I had to get the genealogical aspect into this discussion).
The plant was so obnoxious in its odors that Queen Elizabeth gave an order that no woad growing or processing was to take place within five miles of any her residences. All the more reason to grow it in Virginia.
"Wapeih" is a form of clay. It has use in cleansing the skin of surface greasiness and may be used as a calamine lotion for rashes. A related form of clay, kaolin, is used in antidiarrheal medications.
All of the above I learned from Susan , who wrote "Hurray! At last the chance to use my Botany degree in genealogy." Actually she wrote quite a bit more than I have quoted here and I would hope she can be encouraged to send the full text to the list. Among other names, she is researching Michaels, Bauers, Muellers, Griesbaums. Apparently she has not identified the national origins of her Bowmans who might be Baumanns and her Springers.
Bob England writes with respect to the kinds of walnuts, "Another species of walnut that exists, and was referred too as 'white walnut', is Butternut. It is more pale, and a softer variety of walnut."
New subject . The newspaper has reports of the "union" of the Episcopalians and the Lutherans. Going back in time to the eighteenth century, the Episcopalians in Virginia were then the Church of England, sometimes called the Anglicans. At that time the Lutherans and Anglicans regarded themselves, collectively, as the true church. The Lutherans were the German branch and the Anglicans were the English branch. But because Virginia was an English domain, the established or state church was the Church of England. Using the power of the state, taxes were collected for the support of the Church of England. Usually, the Germans had to support the English church in addition to their own church. This was a bitter pill to them. But in no way did this weaken the view that the English church was a valid church.
In the early 1700's, the number of pastors in the English church throughout Virginia was something like twenty, that is "two zero". One parish might cover more than one county. Attending church was not easy, of course. And on occasions, a parish might not have a pastor. On many occasions the German pastor, the Rev. George Samuel Klug, who served the Robinson River Germans from 1739 to 1764, also served the English community when they did not have a pastor. In other words, he was accepted by the English community as a valid pastor. His services to the English were so appreciated that the Assembly of Virginia passed a resolution of thanks with a large monetary award to him.
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.