Barbara Vines Little did an analysis of John Rectors in the Germanna community and found that two separate John Rectors had been merged into one individual. First, a John Rector arrived in 1734 at Philadelphia on the ship Hope. Though B.C. Holtzclaw thought this John Rector was a nephew of the 1714 immigrant, John Jacob Rector, James McJohn has refuted this argument in Beyond Germanna (vol. 4, n. 2). That he was indeed from Nassau-Siegen seems certain judging by the large number of other immigrants from Nassau-Siegen on the same ship.
The 1734 John Rector married, shortly after arrival, an unidentified woman who is thought to have been the daughter of John and Mary Spilman of the 1714 group. The records supply ample evidence that there were two sons, John, Jr., and Nathaniel. There are no hints that there were any other children. The 1734 John Rector died in 1742 so his span of life in Virginia was very limited. The widow married Timothy Reading.
Nathaniel, the younger of the two sons, married Anne ?, and died by 20 February 1805, when his sales account was recorded in Fauquier County, VA.
A grant of 115 acres of land was made to John Rictor and Nathan Rictor. This was paid by Tim Reading, father-in-law [sic] to the applicants. On 22 Sep 1766, John Rector and Rebecka his wife, sold this 115 acres for nine pounds and five shillings to Nathaniel Rector. John Rector of Culpeper Co. had purchased, in 1761, eighty acres lying on the north side of Bloodsworth's Road from Joseph James. This land was sold to Nathaniel Brown in 1771 by John, with Rebecca's release. In 1774, William Lodspik [Lotspeich] and his wife Magdaline sold 62 acres in Brumfield Parish in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock Rivers on a head branch of Crooked Run. In 1776 this land was sold and this is the last record of John and Rebecca in Culpeper County records.
On 4 March 1831, Benjamin Rector of Iredell Co., North Carolina, filed an application for a Revolutionary War pension. He said that he was born in Culpeper Co. in 1761. In 1779 he entered the war as a substitute for his father John Rector in Surry Co. Thus it appears that John, Jr. (son of the 1734 immigrant) moved from Culpeper Co. to Surry Co. between 1776 and 1779. Benjamin is the only child that has been identified. He died 11 Feb 1849 in Alexander Co., NC.
Holtzclaw stated that John, Jr. had a second wife, Mary, and that he left a will of 1815 recorded in Fauquier Co., VA, where he had nine children. Clearly, Holtzclaw is speaking about another John Rector whom he has confused with John, son of the 1734 immigrant. This second John Rector has been identified by John P. Alcock. He is the son of Harman Rector, Sr., and is a grandson of the 1714 immigrant, John Rector.
Both of the articles, by Little and by Alcock, are in vol. 8, n. 2 issue of Beyond Germanna .
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.