By 1907, Rev. W. P. Huddle, then the pastor at Hebron Lutheran Church, wrote a history of the church which was published in 1908. (In 1905 he had published a shorter article on the subject in a church magazine which was found to contain several errors. He returned to the search with a determination to uncover the facts.) About thirty pages of history prior to 1740 are given in the book. He summarized the difficulties as:
"Many difficulties have had to be met, owing to the lack of early records. Mistakes may be expected, especially in the early history which is very misty and hard to clear up. There were missing links which I could not find. However, I have done my best with the material at hand, trusting that wherein I have failed the future historian will succeed."
He cites many references that he consulted, which were original or very early. He even obtained a few documents from the Public Record Office in London. Still, he refrained, for the most part, from making any suppositions where the records were silent. The net result is that he has only a few errors, and he cleared up one major error of confusion. The final result was that his history of the second group was the best to that time and still worth consulting.
As to the errors, he says that the second group of Germans, the Lutherans, lived on the south side of the Rapidan River. Since the first group, the Reformed people, were on the south side at Fort Germanna, his supposition was reasonable. He also says that the second group worked in the iron business of Spotswood, which is another error.
Huddle very strongly makes the point that the second group of Germans was not at Germanna, but near Germanna. He noted that Col. Byrd counted a baker's dozen of houses at Germanna, which would have been far from sufficient for the combined first and second groups of Germans. The second group was spread out for two to six miles (from Fort Germanna), and on the opposite side of the Rapidan River.
The point that Huddle cleared up was the source of the organ. He wrote to people in Pennsylvania and his questions were referred to the Moravians who kept excellent records. They told Huddle who the builder was and when it was installed. (Huddle noted, in 1907 that, with proper care, the organ would last another century. That century has almost gone by and the organ is still being used every Sunday as the principal source of instrumental music in the church. Within a few years, the organ will start its third century of service in 2002.)
Huddle noted that Rev. Stöver gave the origin of the first members as Alsace, the Palatinate, and neighboring areas, but he hesitated to put his endorsement on this statement. Huddle did note that the Moravians said the majority of people were from Württemberg, and concluded the question was still open.
The book is " History of the Hebron Lutheran Church, Madison County, Virginia from 1717-1990 " and was written by Rev. William Peter Huddle. It was reprinted with an Epilogue by Margaret Grim Davis, and is available from the Hebron Church, PO Box 120, Madison, VA 22727.
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.