Robert Beverley, the historian, had claims on 13,000 acres along the southern edge of the Rapidan River, starting just above Fort Germanna (to the west). At the time he originally staked out the land, there was no Fort Germanna. He declined to file for a patent on the land as he would have been required to pay his fees then. Once a patent was issued, there was a limit to the amount of time that it could remain idle before the land reverted to the crown. Beverley had been so unsure of finding the necessary settlers, about forty families, that he had not paid his fees.
Beverley had approached Spotswood about joining in a partnership to develop this land. The hope was that the two of them could find enough settlers to develop the land. The land was near Germanna, as it started about two miles from Germanna and ran up the south side of the Rapidan River, to the mouth of the Robinson River, a distance of several miles. Along the way it passed by the silver mine, of which Spotswood was a partner. So, there were three tracts of land in which Spotswood could potentially be involved, all located on the south of the Rapidan, and nearly contiguous.
In August of 1716, Germanna was deluged with visitors including Spotswood himself. He was the organizer and leader of a large troop of men who planned on crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains. They were using Germanna as a staging area, where the party of about fifty men would gather. Fortunately, John Fontaine was along on the trip and he made notes in his journal which give us some description of it.
Fontaine spent a lot of time, while he was at Germanna, in evaluating the silver mine. He had traveled from Williamsburg in the company of Spotswood and they arrived at Germanna at nine o'clock in the evening of August 24. Fontain says:
"[On the next day,] we went to see the mines but I could not observe that there was any good mine. We took some of the ore and endeavoured to run it, but could get nothing out it. Many of the gentlemen of the country are concerned in this work."
From this and other similar events, one gathers that Spotswood had charged Fontaine with evaluating the silver mine.
On the 26th of August, a Sunday, several of the gentlemen rode out to view the land thereabouts. On Monday and Tuesday, Fontaine was sick. On Wednesday afternoon, they left Germanna but stopped about three miles from Germanna at Expedition Run, now called Russell Run. The camp was called Beverley Camp, after the historian who was along on the trip. It was especially appropriate as it marked the start of Beverley's 13,000 acre claim. The next day, they made only six miles. In part, it was due to some of Spotswood's horses straying during the night which caused a late start. The party crossed Mine Run which ran through the projected silver mine. They were now progressing through Beverley's claim, the land to be used in the projected Beverley-Spotswood land partnership. This was probably another reason they made so little mileage that day.
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.