The attempt now is to survey the people who came in the period 1730 to, perhaps, 1750, into the Robinson River Valley, or the area to the north. One person, who came earlier than this is George Lang (Long or Lung), who might even be counted as a Second Colony member. On his proof of importation he said he came in 1717, with his wife Rebecca, and in 1731, he patented 300 acres of land on the Robinson River watershed. The land was stated to be adjacent to Andrew Kerker, J. Huffman, and M. Castler. Most of the Second Colony members received their land in 1726, so this patent, which is five years after the others, casts some doubt that he was a member of the Second Colony. He deeded land to Michael Russell (Rossel?) and to Martin Hirsch. His associations always seem to be with Germans, so he probably was German also. It would be unusual for a simple name, like the English Long , to be widely misspelled as his is. He said that he came on the ship Mulberry, but I would not feel happy saying this was the ship the Second Colony came on. He probably came separately from the Second Colony, and had a different history prior to settling down in the Robinson River Valley. The Germans simplified their history at the courthouse and skipped details.
Jacob Manspeil patented land in 1734 on Deep Run. Apparently, he came as a bachelor, for he paid for his land with eight headrights: his own, Jacob Broyle, Rose Paulitz, Susanna Hance, Peter Hance, Margaret Hance, Catherine Hance, and Adam Hance. This is a varied set, which has no Manspiels except himself. If I were studying his history, I would not forget these names. The surname Hance may be a bit of a challenge. A tentative village has been put forth for Manspeil, but his identity is not certain.
Jacob Miller lived next to Adam Yager on Mt. Pony. He was naturalized in 1742/3. Very little is known about the man, except that he appears with a wife, Rebecca, in deeds.
George Adam Raüser came to America from Germany in 1754. He lived for a while in New Jersey before moving to Virginia. It has been of interest to me that the ship, bringing the Garrs in 1732, also brought a Georg Adam Riser and Hans Georg Riser (as well as a Hans Michael Criger). I have wondered if there was a reason here for the Raüsers to come to Virginia. Did they know the Garrs?
With the lack of good solid information, it is easy to get carried away with speculation. The ship that brought the Garrs also brought Joh. Christian Shultz, age 30, who is identified, on the passenger manifest, as a Christian minister. This is the man who ordained both Johann Caspar Stövers (the father became the minister of the German Lutheran Church on the Robinson River). Had the Garrs become acquainted with Schultz, and, through him, learned of the Lutheran congregation in Virginia? People have moved for lesser reasons than this.
The same ship also brought John Philip Sauter (Souther) and Hans Georg Kuntz, and two other men, with variations of these surnames. We could populate the colony with the names we find!
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.