The southern tip of Fauquier County, VA, as it was defined in 1759, was only a few miles from Fort Germanna. From the Fort, cross the Rapidan River, then cross the narrow neck of land between it and the North Fork of the Rappahannock, known later as Hedgman's River, and then, upon crossing Hedgman's, one is in Fauquier. The total distance is about five miles and the direction from the Fort is about due north.
The last note gave some of the settlers in this general region during the 1710's. We should compare the settlement here with the comment of Alexander Spotswood that the Germans at Fort Germanna were fifteen (?) miles beyond the usual course of the rangers. Generally, the extent of civilization at this time is taken as the area patrolled by the rangers. So, either southern "Fauquier" wasn't patrolled or wasn't settled in 1714. More likely, it was the former and it was an unpatrolled area.
This raises the more general question of how to tell when an area was first settled. Generally, on the frontier, the first "foreign" people to enter are the traders, who, in many cases, work and live with the native populations. Usually, the traders do not count as the first settlers. Next, come the people who expect to build their homes and till the land. How does one tell when they arrive? The dates of the land patents and grants are often used, but they can be misleading, especially the larger ones which were of a speculative nature. The owners of these larger tracts often live somewhere else and never intend to live on the land. These tracts are considered as investments for the future. In the last note, it appears that Brent Town was in this category, and it is not clear whether any development took place. The smaller tracts, in the range of family sized farms of a few hundred acres, are often considered to be more indicative of development.
Thus, in 1718 when the First Colony Germans purchased their tract in Fauquier (Stafford at the time), there were already a few Europeans living in Fauquier. I have been guilty of saying that the Germans were the first in Fauquier but they were not. There were several things that could be said about the Germans. Their new home on Licking Run was certainly a frontier community. Probably there were no Europeans to the north or west of them. The church and the school they established shortly after moving were probably the first to be established in Fauquier County. Their neighbors were not numerous. Probably weeks went by without any need to speak a language other than German.
Our Germanna colonists, both the First and Second Colonies, were pioneers because they moved into regions of almost no development. In both cases, their presence strongly encouraged English settlers and speculators.
On the occasion of the Bicentennial of Fauquier County, the committee to mark the occasion sponsored a book, " Fauquier County, Virginia 1759-1957 ." I have been using some material from this book.
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.