One of my favorite families to write about is the Finks family in the Robinson River Valley. Mark Finks, Sr., the progenitor of the family, is an ancestor of mine, so look on my comments as talking about my relatives, not about someone else's. There are more mysteries in the records than there are clarifying facts.
I am not aware that Mark Finks ever owned land. Certainly, he had no patent for land, and, though he might have purchased a property that had been patented by someone else, I am unaware of any land ownership. (If anyone can add to my comments, please speak up.) The people who did not own land were rare. Most of the people who did not own land were the senior generation who lived with a younger generation.
Mark Finks starts appearing in the Virginia records in the 1730's, where there are several references to him. The first Court in Orange County was held in January 1734, though we would say it was 1735. The first Grand Jury appeared in November, and among its members were Mark Finks, William Carpenter, and George Utz (as Woods). At these early dates, it is always a surprise to see Germans in the English Courts on the Juries. However, William Carpenter and George Utz had been here thirteen to eighteen years, and they probably knew some English. The real surprise was to see the name Mark Finks, for this is one of the earliest records for him. I definitely consider Mark to be Germanic; the question is, " Where and when did he learn English? "
A question closely coupled to this is the nationality of Mark. By blood, he was probably German, but there is no naturalization known for him. Was he born in the British Empire? As to when he was born, it was probably close to the first decade of the eighteenth century. He may very well have married after he came to the Robinson River Valley. The apparent ages of his children would be consistent with this. Thus, he might have been born between 1710 and 1714. I have a reason for selecting the first of these dates, late in 1710.
His apparent English citizenship might have arisen from his parents being a part of the exodus from Germany in 1709. Some of these people were sent to New York, and some were sent to North Carolina. Some of them, a very respectable number, were sent to Ireland. Many of them were farmed out to communities throughout England, said communities being paid to take in the refugees. Most of the Germans in England in these communities did not like life under these conditions. They gravitated toward London, where they sought transportation to America. Ships' captains were willing to take them to America, where they became indentured servants. Had Mark Finks' parents been in one of these situations, Mark might have been born on English soil and have been an English citizen. Perhaps the conditions led to his learning English. The Vawter name is often found with the Finks and the Vawters are associated with the Church of England.
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.