In 1716, Lt. Gov. Spotswood led an expedition across the Blue Ridge Mountains. A later novel, called the "Knights of the Horseshoe", by Dr. Wm. A. Caruthers, is probably the source of the name "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe", used to describe the trip in more recent times. John Fontaine left a description of the journey in his diary, in which he notes that he and Spotswood returned to Williamsburg on September 17.
The College at Williamsburg (William and Mary) was obliged to pay two copies of original Latin verses to the Governor every fifth of November as quit rent for their land. In 1716, Mr. James Blair, the President, gave one presentation, "The Suppression of the Late Rebellion." Mr. Arthur Blackamore, Professor of Humanity, based the second presentation on the very recent Blue Ridge trip in a Latin poem entitled in English, "Ultra Montane Expedition." The poem was translated into English by Rev. George Seagood and published by the "The Maryland Gazette", in their Tuesday issues of June 17 and June 24 in 1729. From this translation, a few of the lines refer to Germanna:
. . . . . he to Germanna came,
Which from new German Planters takes its Name,
Here taught to dig, by his auspicious Hand
They prov'd the teeming Pregnance of the Land;
For being search'd the fertile Earth gave Signs
That her Womb swell'd with Gold and Silver Mines
This Ground, if faithful, may in time out-do
Potosi, Mexico, and fam'd Peru.
The first pronoun clearly refers to Spotswood, while "his auspicious Hand" is ambiguous; however, the poem is a tribute to Spotswood, and the "Hand" is probably meant to be Spotswood's. At least, "his" is not capitalized.
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The July issue of "Beyond Germanna" is going in the mail today. It contains two articles of research, with original findings. All Aylor descendants now have a new ancestor to replace one whose credentials have been discredited. In another article, a new Germanna family has been added, that of Charles Frady (in English) or Carl Wrede (in German). Maps show the distribution of the names Wrede and Vrede in Germany today. The form of taxes in the eighteenth century Germany is given in another article. Klaus Wust has more material on the voyage of the ship Oliver in which twelve potential Germanna families lost their lives.
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.