John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 150

Paula Felder helps set the tone for understanding Virginia in the early 1700's.  Quoting from the Forward in " Forgotten Companions ":

"Plantation" was merely a term used to denote the home tract of a landowner or planter, as opposed to "quarter", a separate and sometimes distant tract of land which he farmed.  Rid your mind of images of stately mansions and luxurious hospitality.  This was the frontier.  And the first gentry who came here did so precisely because they did not have wealth.  They were the younger sons in a colony which adhered to the rule of primogeniture -- inheritance of the family estate by the oldest son.  Forget about accessibility or convenience in your living arrangements.  Life in the new country was a very isolating experience.  In the harsh winter months, even the court could not meet.

"There was only one road -- the River Road -- when (Spotsylvania County) was formed.  If you were a new settler, the most important priority was to get your tobacco dry to the wharves on the Rappahannock River in the fall for shipping.  And so the first new roads were rolling roads, so that planters could hitch their hogsheads of tobacco to a horse or a mule for pulling to market.  [Wagons were not used; the hogsheads or barrels containing the tobacco were actually the vehicles themselves as they were turned on their sides and rolled to market.]

"Rid yourself of the image of a close knit band of settlers united in battling the hardships of the frontier.  Sparse as the new county's population was, there were factions from the very beginning.  And there was politics.  Spotsylvania had perhaps the most unusual origins of any county in the colony because of politics."

Our German ancestors were not typical of the person that Paula writes about.  The Germans came as families and very often in groups with common bonds.  The First Germanna Colony was from a close neighborhood (they had all been in Siegen on many occasions) and they were related.  The Second Colony was from a close geographical region and many were related also.  Additional Germans were typically related to someone already here.  So as a group, they did tend to be united.  But the Germans probably did not vent their feelings strongly outside of their community.  To do so would have required the English language.

But the Germans did use the English system when they could.  When Spotswood sued many members of the Second Colony, they appealed to Williamsburg.  In doing this, they were taking advantage of the English politics.  After Spotswood was removed as Lt. Governor, the new administration was not Spotswood's best friend.  So the Germans allied themselves, so to speak, with Spotswood's enemies.  When the Second Colony wanted to send fund raisers to Germany, they went to the County Court and asked for a letter of recommendation to the Governor.  With this in hand, they obtained a letter of recommendation from the Governor complete with his signature and the seal of Virginia.  So they were savvy enough to use the system when they could.  They didn't fight the system though nor did they engage in politics in the early days.

We also know that they found the court could be used to sue each other.