John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes
Note 927
Lester Cappon was, at times, more correct in his assessment than he realized. He observed that the miners were a publicly supported program of frontier defense, which served to mask the Governor's private agenda. This is correct, but he was in error as to what the Governor's private agenda was. Cappon never realized that the silver mine was for real, and that it was only a handful of miles from Fort Germanna. The fact that he came close to the truth many times is impressive, but the failure to find the full story weakens his story.
Cappon accepts the idea that Spotswood had iron before the Germans came, without considering the total lack of any evidence for this. He also accepts the idea that "silver" was a cover up for "iron" and, again, he fails to consider the evidence which says this was not so.
He takes note of Spotswood's letter to Nathaniel Harrison in 1724, which he says was written in 1718, but the letter was written in 1724 and was describing conditions in 1718. As of 1718, he says the Germans had discovered iron mines near the Rappahannock. He adds that he planned on setting up an iron works with several gentlemen. The iron mine land was not patented until 1720, so little investment in the iron works would have been made before then.
What Cappon is saying is, that before 1714, Spotswood had discovered iron, and that the Germans came in 1714. By 1718, the Germans had discovered iron! And probably, no serious investment was made until the iron mine tract was secured. Cappon fails entirely to draw a time line with rational events on it. For example, as I have just commented, he says that, with the iron already discovered, it took the Germans four years to find it.
Along with others, Willis Kemper included, Cappon says the patent for the iron mine tract was issued in 1719, WITHOUT stating a month. The month was February, and the date was an old style date. For the best comparison to a standardized calendar that is readily understood, this date should be converted to the modern calendar. As such, the year was 1720, one year later than Cappon says. Cappon notes also that after this time, Spotswood obtained land on the Rappahannock, where he could build a wharf from which he could ship his iron.
Cappon also adds that another group of Germans, who came in 1717, replaced the first group of Germans. This is entirely false as the second group was assigned entirely different employments.
Cappon notes Gov. Drysdale's writing in May of 1723, which notes that the furnace is in operation and that it is considered a "novelty". This is nine years after the first Germans came. He (Cappon) never sorts out the events into a correctly defined time sequence.
(14 Jul 00)