[Spotswood’s letter to Harrison resumes with the arrival of the seventy-odd Germans in 1717, which could have been up to March 25, 1718 by the modern calendar].
"We settled them upon our tract as freemen (not servants) in 20 odd tenements, all close joining to one another for their better defense [actually, they were about one-half mile apart]. We provided them with a stock of cattle and all other things necessary for their support without receiving from them one penny’s worth of rent. The tract then consisted of 13,000 acres [which would have been Beverley’s tract on the south side of the Rapidan River] but understanding that many more Germans who were scattered in Virginia wished to join those on our lands, we expanded the tract. [Spotswood reverses the actual sequence; the land was expanded first and the Germans were settled on the expansion area on the north side of the Rapidan River.]"I found that the people in England were very interested in naval stores so the tract was expanded to 40,000 acres. [Thus Spotswood gives two reasons for expanding the 13,000 acre tract to accommodate Germans and to enhance the ability to raise naval stores. The 40,000 acres, which he mentions, is, on plotting, closer to 65,000 acres.]
"The number of Germans now living on it [in 1724] is about 100 so the tract is not such an exorbitant possession as some persons have claimed. [At 400 acres per man, woman, and child, it was larger than most grants in Virginia.]
"If I am possessed of both this tract and the Mine Tract without any partners, I have been brought into that circumstance more by necessity than choice. Two of my principal partners died and the executors, heirs, and original partners did not wish to continue so I was forced to carry on by myself alone. I reimbursed everybody the utmost penny that they had expended. [Col. William Byrd says he and Mr. Chiswell discussed Spotswood’s stratagems to shake off his partners and to secure all the mines to himself.]
"The main inducement to enlarging my tracts by taking in the intervening lands was to accommodate several families of people whom we had imported in order to carry on so grand an undertaking as that of raising all manner of Naval stores. The agreements I make with people whom I employ, will manifest that I have not taken up the land to sell it for gain."
[The letter continues with more comments, though these are the principal ones and are given here in so far as they pertain to Germanna people. His arguments basically revolve around the idea that a public good is being obtained at a cost to him, in money and effort. The latter was probably true, as it is doubtful that he had yet earned a profit on his enterprises. At about this time, he was suing many of the Germans on baseless charges trying to obtain some money in that way.]
(26 Sep 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.