Besides the Germans who have been discussed recently, others were recruited quite early to help in the work of building the Virginia Colony. Four sawmill wrights from Hamburg were hired in 1620. Sawmills were badly needed in Virginia to prepare planks and boards for houses and ships. There were plenty of trees in Virginia which is a statement that could not be made about England. The problem, in the earliest days of Virginia, was obtaining the water power for the sawmills. This is because the land was so flat in the Tidewater region there were no places that a head of water or even swift water could be obtained. It was necessary to go to the interior to the fall line where the water came down from the higher Piedmont region. This area in 1620 was under the control of the Indians, not the English. (On the James River, the fall line occurs near to the present city of Richmond which is a considerable distance from Jamestown.)
The Virginia Company of London sent entreaties to their people in Virginia for assistance to the German millwrights but little help was forthcoming. For a while, the millwrights had to provide their own food and clothing. They also needed labor to assist them in the construction of the mills. The colonists were facing difficulties also. Sickness took a heavy toll.
No progress was made in a year. Three of the "Dutch carpenters of Hamburrough" died of illness themselves and the fourth asked to be returned to Europe. The widows asked for compensation and the Virginia Company paid them twenty-seven pounds.
In 1620, two German mineral specialists were also sent across the Atlantic; but, as with the sawmills, the Tidewater region was not the appropriate place. It would have been necessary to go to the Piedmont or Appalachian areas to find the minerals. These areas were under the control of the Indians . By 1622 an iron furnace was constructed at Falling Creek on the James River just south of Richmond. (The Germans may have had a hand in this but proof is lacking.) The furnace was constructed and being fired when disaster struck on 22 March 1622. The Indians attacked, killing all of the Europeans except for two children. By this single act, one fourth to one third of the population of the Colony was wiped out and the furnace and tools were destroyed.
These experiences turned Virginia into an agricultural community, not an industrial community. Tobacco could be grown in the Tidewater and there was a demand for this in Europe. It brought in the necessary cash with which Virginians could buy goods from England. A century later, when Alexander Spotswood came as Lt. Gov., the Piedmont region was still not occupied by the Europeans. Control of the region by the Indians was weakening though. Spotswood saw that the time was ripe and the outcome could be beneficial to both Virginia and England if there were industrial developments in the region; however, industrial development was expensive and no one in Virginia had the necessary money. (The iron furnace in 1622 had been built on a budget of five thousand pounds.) Therefore, Virginia remained an overwhelmingly agricultural community. The object to be prized was land.
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.