The last note discussed the reason that the First Germanna Colony was recruited. They were recruited to mine silver by an agent for Christopher Graffenried and the company with which he was associated. They were not recruited at the request of the "rulers of Virginia" as Willis Kemper claimed.
Since the company and man who hoped to employ them were broke, it is a mystery as to why the Germans actually left their homes. Graffenried claims that he had not been writing encouraging letters to them. He claimed that the Indian troubles had created havoc and exhausted his resources and that Michel had not shown the location of the silver mines. He admitted publicly that he had written that they (the Germans) could send one or two of their people over to have a "look-see." But he professed that he was shocked when he returned to London in the late summer or early fall of 1713 and found forty-odd people waiting for him. Well, when he told them his story, they were the ones that were shocked. The impact of this turn of events was much harder on them than it was on him.
The Germans though, to their credit, proposed a solution. Feeling that they could not return to Germany nor stay in England, they decided they wanted to go on to America. Counting their money, as a group, they found they did not have the necessary transportation costs. So they told Graffenried they would work for four years in America for someone who would pay the balance of the transportation costs. This spurred Graffenried to exert some effort on their behalf.
Graffenried contacted Col. Blakiston, the agent for Virginia in London, and discussed the problem with him. Blakiston was not a random choice. He was aware that Spotswood was the partial owner of a projected silver mine in Virginia (whether Blakiston knew it or not, Graffenried was also a partial owner in this mine). Though there were obstacles to mining operations to be overcome, Blakiston thought Graffenried's offer was too good to turn down. Unfortunately there wasn't time to consult Spotswood on this question, so Blakiston committed Spotswood to paying one hundred and fifty pounds sterling on the transportation costs in return for four years of service by the Germans. At this point, Graffenried left London for Switzerland.
Blakiston found a ship leaving in January (1714 NS) and found space for the Germans on it. So the Germans were on the sea headed for Virginia before Spotswood learned that he had "hired" the services of a party of Germans. It is a stretch of the imagination to say that Spotswood had invited the Germans to come to Virginia; however, he welcomed the Germans, because he thought this was a signal that Blakiston would soon resolve the questions relating to silver and gold mines. It was a falsely placed hope, though.
Willis Kemper's claim that it was Spotswood who was responsible for bringing the First Germanna Colony to Virginia does not bear up well. The Germans left home expecting to mine silver for Graffenried. They entered Virginia with only the hope that they could work four years to pay their debts.
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.