At the start of the half-centuries in these notes, it is customary to expand upon their philosophy. First, the framework in which they are placed is the Germanna Colonies "Mailing List", a means of communication among people about their common interest, the people of Germanna. This list exists primarily for the purpose of asking and answering questions by all of the subscribers. Thus, the list is for the mutual exchange of information.
A harder subject to define is the question of what constitutes a Germanna citizen. If we set out to enumerate the individuals, we might never end the listing. Certainly we could never end it with any certainty. In " Beyond Germanna ", we have had the first part of a two-part article on the Burdyne/Burdine family. Apparently Richard Burdyne was the first male member of the family at Germanna, and his wife was Catherine Tanner, a young German lady. They lived in the area we associate with Germanna families so we have a Germanna family here. A story that is unfolding in " Beyond Germanna " is the history of Charles Frady who was known in Germany as Karl Wrede. This " Hessian " soldier decided that life in America was good and he became a part of the Robinson River Valley community. Nor was he the only one who did a similar thing. Finding these individuals is not easy because names became Anglicized, or because the marriages are not explicitly given.
Searching for the new individuals who should be added is fun. It is a delight to me to be able to assist in this process. It is also a pleasure for me to be able to assist in correcting the history, both the general history and the history of the individuals. The general history has certainly been told with many errors. Some of the family histories (all?) are in the need of serious corrections. (As an example of the later, the recent notes on the Rector family have reported on the new information that has been found in the last ten years or so.)
With such general principles as outlined above, you can understand why I like to interpret Germanna very broadly. We need help in achieving our objectives. (Notice that in switching from " I " to " we ", I am trying to enlist you.) One never knows where this help will be found. So I write about subjects which are very broadly defined, trying to make the notes have a general appeal, besides the specific comments.
When Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood settled some forty-odd Germans at a place he called Germanna (and which retains the name, even today), he had no idea (nor did the Germans) as to the history which would unfold from this locality. He compounded the possibilities when he imported a ship load of other Germans with which to further his plans. But the Germans quickly became the dominant factor in setting the future course, independently of his aims. A very rich history it is too.
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.