Recent notes have raised some questions. One question pertained to the impact of the two styles of calendar. In the first half of the eighteenth century, the world had two calendars. The newest one, the Gregorian, originated with Pope Gregory and was in use in the western world, except in England and its possessions. In this calendar, the New Year started on January 1. In the old or Julian calendar, the New Year started on March 25. The Gregorian calendar was also eleven days ahead of the Julian calendar. Generally, our German ancestors used the Gregorian calendar. Thus they celebrated Christmas on a different day than the English did.
The Germans were aware of both calendars, but in their internal affairs they seemed to use the Gregorian calendar. They also made extensive use of the church calendar which was based on the moveable date for Easter. In the Hebron Lutheran Church financial account, which was recorded in Orange County, VA, they actually had references to the three calendars. They started the fiscal year on January 1, which implies a recognition of the Gregorian calendar. At the same time they called September the seventh month, October the eighth month, November the ninth month, and December the tenth month which is in accordance with the old or Julian calendar. In naming the Sundays on which they held communion, they used the names of the Sundays from the church calendar.
When the First Colony worked to the end of December of 1718 for Spotswood, it implies that they were using the Gregorian calendar, as it would appear that they agreed with Spotswood to work until a nice round number was reached, i.e., the end of the year. But, if they moved in the next month, January, the official year was still 1718. To the Germans though, it was probably 1719. In yesterday's note, to make the date clear, I had to say January 1719 (new style).
Another question pertained to the level of sophistication of the tools and implements used when the Germans first settled on the new land. The answer is: primitive and very limited. Their animal power was probably limited to cattle. It is doubtful that they had horses or wagons of any type.
To digress slightly, about 1713, a group of Germans moved from the Hudson River in New York to Schoharie in the west, where they purchased land directly from the Indians. They had no draft animals, plows, or ropes. To plow their fields the first time, they fashioned a plow from wood, used vines for ropes, and enlisted the women to pull the plow. In short, they were very resourceful.
The First Colony probably had axes, saws, some carpentry tools, picks, and shovels. They probably made some sleds, to use in the place of wagons, which were probably pulled by the cattle. Willis Kemper in his histories makes the point that the First Colony marched on foot carrying their possessions on their head. This may have been an imaginative way of saying that it was not an easy time. I believe that they had cattle when they moved because Spotswood raised cattle on a sharing plan. He would provide the initial cattle and others would care for them. When the deal was settled up, cattle equivalent to the initial amount had to be returned and they would split the increase. We know Spotswood provided cattle to the Second Colony and he probably did the same for the First Colony.
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.