In the last two notes, names from the headrights used by Alexander Spotswood have been given. I believe that this is a partial list of the Second Colony. That we have these names is an accident of history. In no way, are the names which appear as headrights to be considered as ships' lists, or passenger lists. Of all of the thousands of names which are recorded as headrights, there are only a few instances where the names can also be considered as a passenger list, or even a partial list of names. In this particular case, there are only forty-eight names, of what Spotswood said were seventy-odd Germans, and of what the Germans themselves said were eighty Germans.
The difference between the forty-eight names and the larger number were cases where the partners of Spotswood paid the transportation. One of these families is known, and that is Moyer family. Apparently their transportation was paid by Robert Beverley, the historian, who died. His son sold the interest in the partnership to Spotswood, and, when Spotswood sued the Germans, George Moyer was sued with Beverly’s son giving testimony at the trial.
There were several other Germans whom Spotswood sued, who were not on the headright list. These people were either later comers, or people whose transportation was paid by partners of Spotswood who sold out to Spotswood. A detailed search of the Spotsylvania County Court records might disclose other names that can be compared to the case of George Moyer.
Looking at the list of forty-eight names, a surprising percentage of them came from two villages in Germany. The Scheible, Blankenbaker, Schlucter, Fleshman, and Kaifer complex comes to nineteen names. These people were related by blood or marriage, but mostly by blood, with a center of activity at Neuenbürg. Then, from Gemmingen, there are twenty names. This leaves only nine names, from three other localities. Even here the Utz complex appears (but not proven) to be related to the Blankenbaker complex.
Apparently, the propensity to travel as relatives, and as neighbors, extended to having their contracts picked up by one individual. But, this makes one wonder at the absence of one family from the Neuenbürg complex. Anna Maria Blankenbühler had married Johann Thoma and they had two children. They are not on the list with her relatives.
The most plausible reason is that they did not come in 1717. Anna Maria and Johann may have had good reasons for remaining in Germany, at least temporarily. Perhaps they came within two years, and Spotswood may not have been taking on more servants when they came.
There is one reason for considering this last alternative as a real possibility. We have more candidates for inclusion in the Second Colony than the seventy to eighty people which are commonly considered to be the number of Second Colony people. But all the trimming that I do of the candidates is with some hesitancy.
(20 Nov 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.