The Germans probably helped build Fort Germanna with some members of the Virginia militia providing guidance on the plan and technique. As the Germans looked around, they probably saw and felt the need for food. The area around Germanna was reserved for their exclusive use in hunting. But they would have gone to work to clear ground around Fort Germanna where they could grow grains and vegetables. Some of this clearing would have occurred naturally in obtaining the wood for the fort and in providing a clear space around the fort.
For the first two years, the Germans did little more than provide for their own sustenance. In fact, in 1716, Spotswood wrote to London that the Germans had done nothing for him (though this was not true). The Germans wanted to go to work on the projected silver mine but Spotswood would not let them do so. Again, he wrote that the Germans thought there was a good appearance of silver ore but they could not tell without some serious digging. He added that he would not let them do this. The question of the crown's share of mines was still not decided. Queen Anne died and she was followed by George I whose native language was German, not English. Spotswood urged Blakiston to use the argument with George I that a decision on the crown's share would allow the work to go ahead where it would benefit George's fellow countrymen.
The Germans must have been very frustrated during this hiatus. They had agreed to work four years to pay the balance of their transportation costs. So far they had done nothing substantial for Spotswood. When were the four years going to start? Did it start when they went to work or when they landed?
Spotswood took steps to patent the land on which Fort Germanna was built. It is debatable whether this was his land to patent. The settlement of the Germans had been described as an official act of the Virginia Colony and it was supported in part by the colony. Usually forts are thought of as arms of the government and not as private endeavors. But regardless of the views on this topic, it is clear that the Germans were doing something for Spotswood. They were providing the "seating" for his land claim.
During these first two years, the Germans were probably looking around the neighborhood of Germanna. They found something which they understood better than silver and that was iron. About 1716 or 1717, the Germans brought the existence of this ore to Spotswood's attention. At this point, Spotswood had no commitment to mining iron ore and smelting it. First, it was a very expensive operation and he simply did not have the money. His attention was focused on land acquisition which was a known method to acquiring wealth.
However, when parties in England asked Spotswood if he could undertake a search for iron, he readily agreed with them. In doing so, he probably had the intelligence of the Germans that there was iron in the general neighborhood of Germanna, though not immediately at Germanna. So a search was started to see if a good source of the ore could be found. This is not a simple task as the ore must exist in quantity to support a furnace for several years. Building the furnace would be expensive and it would be necessary to have several years supply of ore to support it. So it was not sufficient to find a few pounds of the ore; it had to be measured in tons of ore.
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.