A series of questions form the basis for the present note.
1. "What was the port of departure, from Germany, for the 1717 Germanna Colony?"
There was no port of departure from the area later known as Germany. They people probably left the European continent from Rotterdam in Holland. Probably the colonists came down the Rhine River, but we do not even know that. They may have walked from their homes to Rotterdam (if that were the point of leaving the continent). More likely, they left from several small villages along the Rhine and Neckar Rivers.
2. "Is the exact date they left Germany known, like day and month?"
Again they left their individual villages at different times, but probably all within the general time recorded for the emigrants from Gemmingen. The pastor there recorded, in the Death Register, the fact that several people, later considered to be members of the Second Colony, were leaving from that area. The pastor gave the date as 12 July 1717.
3. "Besides London were there other ports they stopped at?"
It was not unknown for ships to stop at a second port. The ship Oliver, in 1738, after stopping at Cowes, had to stop at Plymouth for repairs. But this was an unusual case and the odds are that the ship did not stop at any other English port.
4. "Was the name of the ship, they came on, ' Constitution ', and was its Captain Scott ?"
The name Constitution would be an anachronism. What would it have been named for? There is no civil Captain to be found in the English records by the name of Scott, in the period from 1710 to 1730. The people who say his name was Scott have been quoting Prof. Holtzclaw, who misquoted the record where the word Scott is found . Essentially, there is only one record and it reads " in Capt. Scott ". This is hardly evidence that there was a man named Scott. In fact, it could equally well be construed as the name of the ship. There was, in fact, a ship named Scott in this time period. Capt. Tarbett was the master of this ship, and it is a recorded fact that he was involved in conversation with Gov. Spotswood in the year prior to the coming of the 1717 Colony.
5. "Did the ship come from the USA?"
Again, aside from the anachronism, the ship Scott , or Capt. Scott , was engaged in sailing between the colonies and Great Britain, a fact verified by recorded evidence that the ship was engaged in the Virginia tobacco trade.
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.