Adam, Franz, and Samuel were three German carpenters who came to Jamestown in 1608. They made a positive contribution in an atmosphere which was very negatively charged. Unfortunately, the person most responsible for the negative attitudes, John Smith, blamed the Germans for many of the problems which he created.
There was a state of semi-declared war between the settlers and the Indians. A major cause was the scarcity of food in Jamestown. The English settlers undertook to solve this by trading with the Indians. The Indians, though, did not grow extra food beyond their needs. So while they sold some food, especially corn, to the English, they declined to sell what they needed for their own basic needs. John Smith tried to get the corn by forcible means.
In December 1608, Powhatan, the chief of the neighboring tribes, promised to provide Smith with corn if he would send him guns, swords, and an English coach, plus build him a European-style house. The German carpenters enter at this point. But Smith saw the house as more than a residence for Powhatan; he saw it place where Powhatan could be trapped and killed before becoming a refuge for himself (this analysis by historian Conway White Sams). This approach was directly in contradiction with the instructions from London. Samuel, the German carpenter, was instructed by Smith to spy on Powhatan.
After the Germans and some English helpers had gone to the English village, Smith set out in a ship with 46 armed men to take the Indians by force. Some of the leaders left at Jamestown learned of Smith's intention after he had left. Eleven of them set out to overtake Smith but their vessel sank and they drowned. Smith was unsuccessful and he blamed it on the Germans for informing Powhatan; however, he left the Germans with Powhatan who recognized the Germans were distinct from Smith and the English-speaking people. Now the Germans became the pawns of the Indians, as Powhatan sent Adam and Franz back to Jamestown, while holding Samuel as a hostage. They were sent back to obtain arms and tools on the pretext that Smith needed them. (Smith was traveling by boat and would not be back at Jamestown for several days.) Adam and Franz returned to the Indians with two muskets and two swords for which they have been blamed by the English historians as traitors; however, the Germans were between a rock and a hard place with Samuel being held hostage. Furthermore, the English had traded 300 hatchets, 50 swords, 8 guns, and 8 pikes to the Indians according to Smith, but he blamed this on the Germans, saying they had persuaded the English to do this. It seems strange that the Germans, who knew little English, could have been eloquent enough to persuade the English to an action of this magnitude. Of course, most of the goods had been traded by the English in an attempt to obtain food.
So Smith invented the conspiracy theory to explain away his failures. Historians have repeated his claims and thereby distorted the contributions of the Germans at Jamestown.
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.