One of the first histories of Germanna was written by Rev. Philip Slaughter in the middle of the 1800's. This was incorporated into " Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia " by Raleigh Travers Green in 1900. When Slaughter wrote about Germanna, he was familiar with several documents which pertained to Germanna, but still his knowledge was limited. We can judge the extent of his knowledge by the following quotations from him,
"Our Germanna was settled under the auspices of Governor Spotswood in 1714, on a peninsula of 400 acres of land on the banks of the Rapidan. These Germans came directly from Oldensburg, or were a remnant of a settlement planted under the auspices of the Baron de Graffenried in North Carolina, many of whom were massacred by the Tuscarora Indians, as related by Governor Spotswood in a letter of October 1711, which is published in Perry's Collections from the archives of Fulham and Lambeth. . . . .
"That these Germans might have been the survivors of the massacre in North Carolina is a mere conjecture, suggested by the fact that De Graffenried was the leader of both parties. . . .
"These Germans landed at Tappahannock, and a dispute arose between them and the captain of the ship in which they sailed, about the money for their passage. The captain refused to deliver their effects until his demand was satisfied. Governor Spotswood being present, proposed that if the Germans would settle on his land and remain long enough to instruct some of his young men in mechanical trades, he would pay the bill. They consented and hence the settlement at Germanna. . .
"These Germans [from Germanna] were probably the founders of Germantown in Fauquier. [Many First Colony names are given from the records of Fauquier including a specific mention that Peter Hitt married Sarah James and Jos. Hitt married Mary Coons. Why these marriages were singled out for a mention is not clear.]. . ."
Slaughter's knowledge was not the best. He knew the Germans came in 1714 from a letter of Spotswood but their origin was a mystery. He was clear that the possible origin in the North Carolina Germans was speculation. He failed to understand the role and motivations of Graffenried. Four hundred acres for the size of the Germanna tract is grossly in error. Though others have mentioned that the ship called at Tappahannock on the Rappahannock, it would seem that if they were using Slaughter as their authority that the fact is not to be trusted. It also seems that he has confused events between the First and Second Germanna Colonies. It is curious why he singled out the Hitt marriages.
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.