There are two individuals who were involved with our Germanna Colonists whose eventual fate is unknown. One is Johann Justus Albrecht or Albright. The other is Francis Louis Michel. Without Michel's efforts there certainly would have been no Germanna and his involvement may be deeper than has been recounted.
Graffenried left notes after his return which indicate that Michel died among the Indians; however, communication between Graffenried and Michel, in the later years that Graffenried was in America, was strained, perhaps nonexistent. I have seen, in the early Spotsylvania County records, the name Francis Mycall, especially in land records. The spelling "Mycall" in Virginia would be a good approximation of the name Michel. There is, in the Germanna area, a Prince Michel winery. Since Francis Michel did come from a family with pretensions to nobility, this name suggests him. I have encountered persons who claim descent from him. While there is much to be worked out in this history, it is entirely possible that Michel could be counted as a true Germanna settler. At least he should have an "honorary" position. Perhaps someday we can learn more and report it.
Albrecht has been slighted in the Germanna history. There is every indication that he was in the 1714 group of Germans. In fact, he is referred to as the "head miner". Graffenried says he was in London in 1713. We know from two documents that he was later in Virginia. Surely he came with the other Germans and was at Germanna in 1714, even though B. C. Holtzclaw, and others, did not count him as one of the original people.
One of the two documents is a statement in the Essex Co. Deed and Will Book, vol. 16, dated 17 May 1720 , which says that eleven laboring men had been put under his command by the Governor to work in mines or quarries, and they continued until December of 1718 (which was the time that they moved to Germantown).
The other document was written by Albrecht in London after the preliminary recruiting had been done in Germany. This shareholder's book was in essence a charter for a mining company. It was obviously written by Albrecht, and the presence of it in Virginia would also indicate that Albrecht did come to Virginia; it has been preserved in the Spotsylvania County records. A translation of this German document has been made by Elke Hall and published in " Beyond Germanna ".
There is no reason to believe that Albrecht was married at the time he recruited the Germans, or even when he came over to Virginia. Apparently though, he was living at Germanna. It is entirely conceivable that he married one of the single women. Against this thought is the possibility that he was not on the best of terms with the other Germans who may have regarded him as the source of some of their troubles. His eventual fate is totally unknown.
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.