Going back in the story here to the trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains in the late summer of 1716, it is seen from the subsequent events that a major purpose of the trip was to scout land. The 40,000 acre Spotsylvania tract took its initial form then as the party crossed over the portion contributed by Robert Beverley, the historian, and, on the other side of the Rapidan River, over a part of the expansion area. The endeavor was a partnership with the major part of the ownership in the hands of Spotswood.
Back in Williamsburg, the work shifted to finding settlers for the tract. What was needed was a whole group, much like the Germans in the Fort at Germanna. Spotswood said they had been doing a good job and that Virginia would benefit if more of the countrymen of the Germans were to come to Virginia. But the ships were not bringing Germans. One reason was that the English had not encouraged the Germans after the disastrous year of 1709. But luck was with Spotswood in the year of 1717.
In the spring of 1717 he talked with Andrew Tarbett whose ship had been taken from him by the pirates. Part of the luck was that Tarbett's ethics were not the highest. (It is a recorded fact he was willing to bribe customs officials to allow tobacco to pass without the payment of duties.) Spotswood asked Tarbett whether it was possible to get a ship load of Germans. That is, could Tarbett "encourage" a group of Germans to come to Virginia? Tarbett couldn't promise anything as he no longer had a ship. He did remember that Spotswood wanted Germans and would take an entire shipload.
Back in England in the summer of 1717, Tarbett managed to get another ship to command, one named Scott. That fall, late in the season, a group of Germans appeared in London wanting passage to Pennsylvania. It was a stroke of luck for Tarbett. True, they wanted to go to Pennsylvania, not Virginia, but they would have to go where he took them. The advantage of taking them to Virginia was that Spotswood would take the whole shipload without any hassles. He would take the aged and infants along with the able-bodied workers. In Pennsylvania, it would be time consuming to find someone to take all of the people and there would be lots of bargaining over the marginal elements.
After agreeing with the Germans to take them to Pennsylvania, Tarbett had a stroke of bad luck. He was thrown into debtors' prison. Possibly this was related to the lost of the ship Agnis and its cargo to the pirates. He was able to obtain his release, perhaps on the strength of the contract he had to take the Germans to Pennsylvania. The time had become very late in the year. The Germans had not left their homes until toward the end of July. The trip down the Rhine, the journey to London, finding a ship there, the delay while Tarbett was in debtors' prison consumed time.
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.