The November issue of Beyond Germanna went in the mail yesterday. This is the closing number in the ninth volume, which now makes fifty-four issues (of ten pages each) that have been published.
In this issue, Nancy Dodge has a short article in the lead position which discusses aspects of the lawsuit brought by Alexander Spotswood against George Moyer, early Germanna colonist. William and Christopher Beverley had testified on behalf of Spotswood against George Moyer. Their testimony is not given which had left open the question of why they testified. Nancy uses the known history of the Second Colony to show that George Moyer had probably had his transportation paid by Robert Beverley who had been a partner with Spotswood in the enterprise which utilized the services of the members of the Second Colony. Thus George Moyer's position as a 1717 colonist is strengthened (he had not appeared on Spotswood's headright list).
Isham Tatum was an early minister in the Culpeper/Madison area. Some members of the Germanna community were married by him which lead to a question of which faith did he represent. Joan Hackett dug into the records and found some history on the man who was known as "The Silver Trumpet" for his oratorical skills. His way with words was so winning that he persuaded five women to marry him.
An earlier issue of Beyond Germanna carried Gottlieb Mittelberger's description of his trip to America. As he continuation of this, he also left a description of the fate that befell the immigrants when they arrived, which is summarized in a note.
The earliest major Germanna family history was the Garr/Gaar genealogy, a monumental work listing about 16,000 descendants of Andreas Gar. It had always been a puzzle to me how so much of the German history of the family was known. Descendants so often have difficulty in finding the places where their ancestors came from that it amazed me that so much was known about the German history of the Garr/Gaars. The answer to this question is told, at least partially, by an article on the early documentation of the family.
Stephen Broyles has studied how tracts of land are described. From his articles on the subject, an extract was made on Virginia Land History.
Four more of the Culpeper Classes are presented. In Class 88, there are Wilhoits, a Bunger and a Broils. In Class 89, a Fishback and more Wilhoits. In Class 90 a Crim. In Class 91, a Yager, Southers, Berrys and Fleshmans. Note is also taken of the presence of Garriott Vandyke following Peter Vandyke in another Class. Previously this had been reported as Garrett Vandyke, a difference which is very significant.
The issue closes with the surname index for volume 9. More than 600 surnames are listed. As the new subscription season starts, the publisher has announced the price line will be held.
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.