Andrew Tarbett gave his disposition concerning the loss (to pirates) of the ship Agnis to Alexander Spotswood in April of 1717. He returned to England by hitchhiking on a ship going that way. Incidentally, the trips back to England were usually shorter than the trips to America. The prevailing direction of the winds and currents were to the east. A typical time for the east bound trip was about six weeks, compared to the ten weeks for the west bound trip.
With the occupation of being a ship captain or master, Tarbett would have proceeded to look for a ship to command. This could have taken a few months. Meanwhile, the group of Germans who would become known as the Second Germanna Colony were leaving their homes and traveling down the Neckar and Rhine Rivers toward Rotterdam. The pastor at Gemmingen implies that they left toward the end of July, an unusually late time to be leaving. At Rotterdam, the group found a ship going to London.
At this time, the trip was divided into two parts, the first from Rotterdam to London, and the second from London to America. In London, the group looked for a ship going on to Pennsylvania. This is when they met Tarbett, who was probably looking for cargo to fill up his ship.
Tarbett saw an opportunity of taking the Germans to Virginia, where he knew that Spotswood wanted a whole ship load of Germans. He could have taken the Germans to Pennsylvania, which is where they wanted to go, but he could probably obtain a better price on faster terms for all of the Germans in Virginia. Sometimes, a ship at Philadelphia would be tied up for weeks while contracts for the Germans were negotiated. In Virginia, Spotswood would take the whole lot of aged, young, women, and working men, and he would pay top dollar. A ship load would fulfill his needs perfectly. If Spotswood should prove uncooperative, Tarbett could always go on to Philadelphia.
Tarbett agreed with the Germans to take them to Pennsylvania. While waiting for the departure from London, Tarbett was thrown into the debtor's prison (was he in trouble because he had lost the ship Agnis?). This caused a delay which was expensive for the Germans. When he secured his release from prison, the trip commenced. There is no question in my mind but that Tarbett navigated directly for Virginia. He knew from the moment he cast off the lines in London where he was going.
The Germans were very bitter about his actions and sixty years later they described his actions in unflattering terms. Spotswood merely winked at Tarbett's actions. His purposes had been served. He was to describe the Germans later as "imported", just as though he had ordered a ship load, and they had been delivered. The plans to use them were already in place and they were seated on the land that he had explored during the previous August and September, on the trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains.
(10 Aug 00)
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.