In 1734 there was a well-organized exodus from the Siegen area to Virginia. It was well organized, in the sense that they acted collectively with a definitive purpose. Probably, Jacob Holtzclaw had been organizing the group (from Virginia). First, it had been necessary to acquaint those in Siegen with the opportunities in Virginia. Holtzclaw already had some land in the Little Fork where a number of people could be settled. Because of the uncertainties in the trip, and the need for reinforcement, they were probably advised to travel together. In the end, a good sized party left the Siegen area and arrived at Philadelphia, on the ship Hope , on 23 Sep 1734. The Hope was from Rotterdam and had stopped at Cowes. One remarkable thing is the small size of the passenger list. There were forty-nine males above sixteen, forty-five females above sixteen, fourteen boys and seventeen girls; in all, 125 passengers. A second remarkable thing is that only two ships brought Germans to Philadelphia in 1734. Probably a representative from the group in Virginia met the Hope , perhaps even with a wagon or two to help convey the chests to Virginia. The majority of the people probably walked from Philadelphia to Virginia.
Let's look at some of the people. There was Hans Jacob Fischbach, 30, and Catherina Fischbach, 28. Jacob Fishback was a nephew of Philip Fishback, of the 1714 Colony, and came from Trupbach. His godfather was Jacob Holtzclaw, of the 1714 group. We should not be surprised that the group of friends and relatives had an emphasis on relatives. Writer B.C. Holtzclaw felt that the sponsorship of Jacob Fishback by Jacob Holtzclaw indicated they were relatives, but the details escaped him.
Another man was Hans Hendrick Hofman (John Henry Huffman), who is not to be confused with the later immigrant, John Henry Huffman, who was a brother of the 1714 John Huffman. The relationship to other Germanna people was that his wife, Anna Margaret, was a Spilman. This was a young couple, aged 22 and 20, respectively, with no children.
Johanis Jung, 40, and his wife, Anna Maria, 32, were old enough to have a family. They had three children: Gerderuth, 5, Harman, 4, and Elizabeth, 1. They were also accompanied by Elizabeth Catherine Jongen (the female form of Jung), aged 32, and Anna Cathrin Jongen, aged 20. (The latter two women were cousins of John Young.) John Young (Johanis Jung) became the reader of the church in the Little Fork. Apparently he was a nephew of Jacob Holtzclaw, being a son of Jacob's sister.
The group included Johanis Nohe, 40, his wife Maria Clara, 40, and their children: Gerderuth, Anna Catherine, Maria Clara, and John Jacob, who were 16, 10, 5 plus and 2 plus, respectively. Frau Nohe was an Otterbach, a niece of Herman Utterback, of the 1714 Colony. You will remember that Jacob Holtzclaw's father-in-law was Herman Otterbach, so the Nays were related to the Holtzclaws.
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.