The last village being discussed was Gemmingen, which is in the Kraichgau. [Any previous references to the Kraichgal should be read as Kraichgau.] The Kraichgau is a region between the Rhine and Neckar River valleys, just southeast of Heidelberg, west or northwest of Heilbronn, and northeast of Karlsruhe. Stream-carved valleys cut through the region, and limestone cliffs covered with loamy soil and red marl provide an uneven, but rich, topography. Politically, the Kraichgau refers to a scattered collection of tiny, semi-independent territories strewn haphazardly across the landscape. The territories united early in the modern period in a loose, voluntary confederation of Knights. In 1599, membership in the confederation consisted of seventy-five knights, some rich and some poor, who owned seventy-two separate territories, the average size of which was less than fourteen square miles (less than four miles by four miles). Thousands of Swiss immigrants (several of them Anabaptists), and French Huguenots, helped repopulate the area after the end of The Thirty Years' War in 1648. There was no strong state in the area, and the Knights attempted to exact as much as they could in taxes. The peasants resisted, sometimes forcibly.
Examinations of the parish and village records show that emigration was bunched by the same surname, the same village, and the same year. And, very typically, they traveled on the same ship. It was very rare for someone to emigrate alone. Usually, families were involved, or a village sent several families, perhaps unrelated, but sharing a common background. Very often these groups went at the same time. Once the travel commenced, the people tended to stay together. Recent notes highlighted this situation from the village of Neuenbürg. The last note hinted at this for the village of Gemmingen, which is very much in the Kraichgau.
Six families left Gemmingen in the year of 1717. Four of these families are known to have reached Virginia together, as they appear on Spotswood's importation list. One family was Matthaus Schmidt, his wife, Regina Catharina, and their two young children, Matthaus and Anna Margaretha. They do not appear on Spotswood's importation list, but are known residents of Virginia. Another Schmidt family includes Hans Michael Schmidt, Anna Margaretha (his wife), and two children, Hans Michael and Christoph. The parish pastor also said that Michael's father-in-law and mother-in-law went.
There is a good reason that Matthew Smith may not appear on Spotswood's importation list. Spotswood had formed a partnership with others for western land development. Each of the partners paid for the transportation of some of the Second Colony members. (Spotswood paid for only forty-eight of the seventy-odd.) One well-documented case of this occurs with George Moyer, who appears to have his way paid by Beverley, the historian. Since Matthew Smith turns up in Virginia later, we must assume that he was in a similar situation.
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.