How good is the evidence that the forty-eight names that appear in a headright list of Alexander Spotswood were actually members of the Second Germanna Colony? For five of the families, there is the additional evidence that the pastor at Gemmingen listed the people as leaving there in 1717. We must always consider the case that they did not make the trip in one year, but perhaps stayed over the winter in some place along the way; however, I have no evidence of this, so the two Smith families, the Weaver family, the Clore family, and the Milcher family have excellent credentials as members of the Second Germanna Colony.
Excepting for the mention in the Gemmingen death register, all of the other people on the headright list seem to have nearly identical histories to the five families named above. It is generally assumed that all forty-eight of the names are members of the Second Colony.
There was one other family who is recorded as leaving Gemmingen in 1717. This family does not show up in the Virginia records. The father was Lawrence Bekh (Beck?), his wife Anna Martha, their son Lawrence (Lorentz), Maria Margaretha, Hans Georg, and Anna Catharina. Many things could have happened to this family, but two events, including death or abandonment of the trip, might be the reason they do not show up in Virginia.
Interestingly, there are two families on the headright list who have no further mention in Virginia after their arrival. One family was the Milcher family, where the father, Hans Michael, the mother, Sophia Catharina, children, Anna Margaretha and Anna Catharina, and the mother's sister, are recorded as leaving Gemmingen. The father and mother are on the headright list, but the two children are not; however, apparently a new daughter, Maria Barbara, is added. The mother's sister is not present. If the father died soon after arrival in Virginia, it might be that the mother remarried. Another possibility is discussed later. In Germany, the name seems to have been spelled as Mihlekher, but this spelling may be a regional dialect. On the headright list, the name is Milcher.
There is one other family on the headright list for which there is no further information, and that is the Wegman family of Hans Jerich, Anna Maria, Maria Margaret, and Maria Gotlieve. As with the Milcher family, the death of the father might be the reason that the name disappears.
I have often wondered, in the cases of these two families, if there might not be another reason. Going to Virginia was not the intention of these people. They had planned on going to Pennsylvania, but Andrew Tarbett, of the ship
Scott
highjacked them from their intention and took them to Virginia instead. It would not surprise me if, on a dark night, the families set out on foot for Pennsylvania. Nor could I find them guilty of any crime in a court of law.
(25 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.