(Continuing with clarifications, especially of notes 229 and 230). Did the Rev. Häger come from Germany with the members of the First Colony? Did the Rev. Häger move to Germantown when it was initially settled or did he come later?
It is very frustrating not to be able to find material when you want it and I am in that situation right now. I am running on "memory" and that is to be likened to running on "empty." I believe that the Rev. Häger left Germany with the members of the First Colony, i.e., he was another member of the First Colony. I have a recollection that when the Colony was in London and Graffenried had not arrived, that Rev. Häger went to the offices of the Society for the Preservation of the Gospel to see if they would sponsor him. I believe it is recorded in their minute book that he did appear and was rejected for support as inappropriate. If this is approximately the case, it establishes that he was in London with the members of the First Colony. It would have been natural for Rev. Häger to go to the offices since his son, another pastor, had done the same thing a few years before and he was supported. The son was ordained in the Church of England and he was to minister to the Germans along the Hudson River; however, I do not believe that Rev. Häger moved to Germantown with the rest of the Colony. Logic just says it would have been otherwise. Remember that in 1713 Rev. Häger was retired from active service because of a hernia. In January of 1719 (NS), he was 74 years old. The situation was that Germantown was a forest with no cleared ground and no shelters. His presence would have initially been a hindrance to the community.
Very early, at Germanna, Spotswood had legislation passed which created the (old) Parish of St. George. Limited in extent, one of the stipulations was that if the Germans kept a minister of their own they would be exempt from tithes. More truthfully, the legislation should read, "Spotswood would be exempt from paying their tithes." If Rev. Häger had moved to Germantown in 1719, the Second Colony members would suddenly become tithables. Again, it would be Spotswood that could be considered as the party who was responsible for paying the tithe; however, if he hired Rev. Häger to minister to the Second Colony, then they would be exempt from tithes. He probably did not "hire" him with monetary payments, but offered him rent free use of his home at Germanna. That is, Spotswood may have encouraged Rev. Häger to remain at Germanna.
But mostly because of health reasons, I do not believe that Rev. Häger moved to Germantown at the same time as the First Colony. I might never have thought of this but Willis Kemper made the statement and it started me thinking.
The old German parish of St. George was wiped out when the county of Spotsylvania was created by legislation in 1720. A new St. George Parish was created which was coterminous with the county. Since it was a year and a half before the county started to function, there is a period wherein there is uncertainty as to which rules applied. Most likely, the old rules applied until the new government and parish were actually functioning.
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.