The start of a new "century" of notes is the occasion to write a note of explanation. The subscription list is broad and some individuals may wonder if I am ever going to write about their ancestors. The answer to that question is, probably not, seeing how many different families there are to write about, and how little I know about many of the families. This inability to write about many families is a deep regret of mine. On occasions, others have stepped in and wrote about a family in several parts. The Crigler family is a good example, where Cynthia Crigler wrote about them and we all learned a lot. And Cindy probably learned a lot also, for the questions she posed while writing, led to research which clarified the status or name of two very early individuals. So, the invitation is open to all for stories on Germanna families. Remember this is your list, not my list.
There is confusion about what constitutes a Germanna family but I do not feel that is bad. I actually hope there is some confusion because the Germanna families were so mixed up with other German families, or other areas, that I see the possibility that we will learn more by being generous in our definition. Technically, and rather narrowly, I define a Germanna family as having at least one German ancestor, especially one who was born in Germany, who lived in Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We also use the term Piedmont to describe this region of Virginia.
Some of the time I do not write directly about the Germanna families. But then our Germanna people shared the same hopes, fears, and aspirations as the general population. So writing about what happened to Virginia, in the first half of the nineteenth century, in the words of Dr. Charles Bryan, is as applicable to Germanna citizens as it is others. Certainly, our Germanna citizens were not at all bashful about moving to the frontier. The first community in Kentucky had several descendants of Germanna people. It is said the first white woman west of the Alleghenies was Margaret Thomas Hupp, another descendant. It has been said the first white girl born in Kentucky was a Germanna descendant. It is not so important whether these reports are strictly true or not. What they do show is that the Germanna people were there early. So when the talk swings to the frontiersmen, we do not have to refrain from speaking up.
What am I going to write about after 701 notes? Even I will have to wait until it becomes time to write note 702. I do appreciate your suggestions, or your comments, about what I have written, and I welcome your ideas for the future. If you tell me that you enjoyed, or learned something from, a note or a series of notes, I am encouraged to try and find more in a similar vein. And, you don't have to be so polite; you can say you missed the point of a note, or that you thought it was wasted paper. Judging from the size of the list, and that most people print the notes, another tree has to be chopped down every time we publish a note. (Don't forget you can be ecologically sound and get all of the notes on a CD-ROM from Gene Wagner at the email address below or you can read the notes on a web page maintained by George Durman at the web address below.)
Gene Wagner's email address for the CD-ROM: genelea@mail.inficad.com .
George Durman's web site pages for archives of these Notes: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhis1.html
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.