In note 105, I thought that Conrad Kepler was an unknown. Roberta Isaacs corrects me by saying that Conrad was a Kabler of the Mt. Pony Kablers. Spellings of the name include Kepler, Cobler, Kobler, Cabler besides Kabler. It shows that recognizing a name is not always easy. In Germany, the spelling included Kappler. Conrad, with his brothers Nicholas and Christopher, is mentioned in his father's (Frederick) will. Frederick's land patent in Culpeper Co. is southwest of the road intersection of 661 and 662 south of Stevensburg.
Today is a hot July day, so talking about Christmas may cool us off. We know that Hebron church members celebrated Christmas with a church service complete with communion. This was held on December 25 regardless of the day of the week. Klaus Wust writes in the Virginia Germans that it was more than a solemn church affair. Worldly additions worried the clergy including a growing "manger" cult which was considered as idolatry by some. Paul Henkel was more disturbed by what was happening outside the church where people spent the day in playing, drinking and feasting. Gift exchanges were common and the Henkels printed pious children's books to give to children. Christmas trees were a long way into the future and are dated by some to 1855, when Frank Prufer, a recent German immigrant, displayed a Christmas tree which attracted curiosity.
The Henkel family is almost a Germanna family for there were four marriages in one generation between the Germanna family of George Teter and the family of Johann Justus and Maria Magdalena (Eschman) Henckel. The Teter family was from Schwaigern and probably came to the Robinson River on the basis of news received from Schwaigern emigrants who were already in the Robinson River area; however, the Teter move was not immediately from Schwaigern to Virginia but occurred over a period including a few years in Pennsylvania.
On other occasions, a favorite activity was dancing which was an occasion to dress in one's best finery. Some observers have noted that festivities, once launched, did not end on the day they were started. Wust notes the Piedmont Germans, who included many who came directly to Virginia, probably had the purest form of German culture in their early years. They simply did not know any other way of living.
An old German custom of drinks all around was honored in 1734 at the raising of the house for the Rev. Stoever. Michael Clore supplied the brandy and he was reimbursed two shilling and six pence by the church for two quarts of brandy. (Brandy was less expensive than wine.) The custom being honored called for treats to the workmen when the frame of the building is completed. The custom continues unto today in the raising of a flag over the building.
Decorated and inscribed lintels were common among the early Fauquier Germans where an early sample lasted for two centuries. Over in the Valley, the Germans there had usually lived for a while in the colonies and they made some adjustments in their cultural practices. But the First and Second Germanna Colonists were right off the boat and into a culture which remained largely German. Barn raisings, corn huskings, apple butter boilings, and huckleberry outings lent themselves to the natural desire for a social time.
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.