At the start of the half-centuries in these notes, it has become customary to remark on their purpose, which is to promote an awareness of the Germans who lived in the Virginia Piedmont, the lands between the Tidewater and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Tidewater lands extend from the ocean up to the Fall line where the waters from the Piedmont tumble down to more placid and deeper routes to the ocean. In 1714, Germans were among the first settlers of these foothills and their first settlement was called Germanna by Gov. Spotswood, after the reigning monarch, Queen Anne , and the Germ ans. The events which brought them to Germanna are very complex. The Germans stayed a little less than five years, and then moved to lands of their own in today's Fauquier County.
This first group was soon followed by more Germans who had been imported (a word which Gov. Spotswood himself chose) to populate lands when he wished to claim land on the western frontier. These Germans lived about two to five miles west of Germanna, and after seven years they moved to lands of their own in today's Madison County. The Germans continued to come to Virginia, apparently at first by direct importation through Virginia ports, but later by the Philadelphia route.
Even though only a minority of the Piedmont Germans were ever associated physically with Germanna, a geographical locality, the term has grown to encompass all of the Piedmont Germans. Because research is so geographically oriented, it is not reasonable to divide the Germans into groups; they interacted too much to make this a feasible course of action. In fact, they interacted so much with Germans outside the Piedmont area, and with Germans who lived only briefly in the Piedmont area, that it is impossible, and undesirable, to confine a discussion to the physical area defined by the Piedmont.
But still, to give some focus to the research, these notes are primarily concerned with the Piedmont Germans. Some of these people lived their entire lives here, while others only passed through and stayed but a brief time.
The Germanna Colonies list on which these notes appear is intended as a research tool by providing a communication opportunity among people who are interested in the Piedmont Germans. To enhance the value of the list, these notes try to provide general information with a broad interest to encourage people to read them. With more readers, the probability is higher that a question can find an answer. The topics covered in these notes vary widely; experience tells me that at least a few readers are interested in every subject. No individual is so isolated that he does not have a few descendants.
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.