In a previous note on Michel, I said he arrived in Virginia on May 9. Either he or the translator made a mistake, for Michel now says he arrived on April 9. (This date makes more sense judging by the time of the crossing.) The trip to Virginia, from Bern, was a business trip as the following notes will make clearer. Basically, Michel was seeking to find a place where he could settle people. He had a special interest in the French refugees, Huguenots, who had found a home in Virginia a few years earlier. Michel regarded them as a model for his projected colony. He wanted to talk to them to see what their experience had been. Also, Michel knew very little English and he could converse with them in French. But let's let him tell his story.
"Starting at Yorktown on April 8 where the ship anchored when it arrived, the Captain went across land to Williamsburg to announce his arrival. He returned that night having traveled 36 miles during the day." [Because Michel and the French families, who were also passengers, were aliens, they needed permission to go ashore. The captain assured them that they could and that the governor welcomed them. Temporarily leaving their goods on board the ship, they went ashore. This was the first time they had been on land since the previous December. Being spring also, Michel was exceedingly delighted with what he found.]
"After several miles of travel, they came to farms which were widely separated. Each one selects a place where the land, water, and pasture are good. We were very curious as to what the inside of a house looked like and what the people ate. We stopped at one near the road but no one was home except a maid who gave us some water and bean soup that had been prepared with bacon. For the slaves, pounded corn was cooked in water and corn was baked into bread. We did not like the corn bread. We liked the wheat bread baked in an oven but that was not for servants or slaves."
"We found, after several days of traveling that it was possible to travel through the whole country without money, except for the ferries. Even if one is willing to pay, the hosts will not accept any money. If you try to pay, they get angry and say, "Don't you know the custom of the country?" There are few ordinaries or inns. At first we were bashful, but they admonished us that this was the custom of the country for the rich and the poor."
"Our first objective was to go to Mattapony where some Swiss people were living, especially a man known to me from military service. On the way we met a man on horseback. One almost never meets anyone traveling on foot. We asked him about the way and he helped us. One finds that the trees along the trail are blazed to show the way. He told us about a house where some Swiss were living and we came to the house shortly where the four sisters Lerber were living." [The editor of the notes thinks they may have been Anabaptists who emigrated from Bern because of the opposition to their faith there.]
"Along the way, many people offered us farms to rent. The real wealth lies in the slaves, not in the land, for if one has workmen, much foodstuff and tobacco can be produced."
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.