The process of acquiring and interpreting historical information is not always straight forward. It was about 1980 that I first read about New German Town in the Great Fork of the Rappahannock River. It fit with nothing that I had read before and was difficult to interpret. So I filed it in one of my favorite places, the fly leaf in the back of the book where I had read it. About ten years later, I was studying a map of Culpeper County and saw Fleshman's Run and German Run, which were more evidence. Eventually, the story fell into place. Paula Felder's writings were a help.
I want to look, in this note, at another piece of information which had struck me as odd. Now it is perfectly logical. John Fontaine, in the diary which he kept of the trip across the Blue Ridge Mountains, said that on the first day they left Germanna that they traveled three miles and camped. The group consisted of 63 men, and going just three miles does not sound like an efficient way to run an expedition. Incidentally, the place they camped was called Beverley Camp. The second day, Fontaine mentions the silver mine, and says that they made six miles. But he does offer the excuse that Spotswood's horses had strayed in the night and it took a while to find them.
After learning more about the plans of Spotswood and Beverley for the development of the western lands, one realizes that the delay in moving forward was in part due to the time that Spotswood spent in exploring some of the 13,000 acres that Beverley proposed to put into the land partnership with Spotswood. The naming of the camp as Beverley Camp was simply because they were on the land that Beverley had staked out. Whether Fontaine understood this aspect of the first days is not clear. But the party went along both sides of the Rapidan River to the Robinson River. This was the future extent of the Spotsylvania Tract on the south side of the Rapidan River.
In total, about three days were spent traversing Beverley's land, but a part of this time was spent along the north shore of the Rapidan River. This later area would be in the area which became a part of the expansion area that was added to Beverley's tract to form the Spotsylvania Tract. I bet that Spotswood and Beverley spent some time discussing a future partnership, including where they were going to get the settlers for it. Spotswood and Beverley both probably recognized that Germans would be an excellent solution. The Germans at Germanna had worked out very well. But Spotswood probably suggested that 13,000 acres in a partnership would probably not be enough for two men, who were as ambitious as they were. He probably even suggested that they look at some at the land on the north side of the Rapidan River. Before the trek was ended, the two men, and perhaps some others, had probably reached a tentative agreement.
In justifying his expense account, which included this trip, we read that Spotswood gave, as the reason for the trip, the fact that he wanted to see the western area. He certainly did, but not for official purposes. He saw that his personal future lay in this area.
There is some debate as to whether the party went to the Blue Ridge by the Robinson River, or by the Rapidan River, after they arrived at the junction of the rivers. It is not an argument that I am making, but it is noteworthy that the Spotsylvania Tract ran up the Robinson River to Meander Run. Considering that a major purpose of the trip was to look for land and that the bounds of the tract that Spotswood obtained did lie along the Robinson River, it is support for the argument that the party went by the northern route, along the Robinson River.
(13 Oct 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.