The Jacoby/Jacobus/Jacobi family had a presence in Virginia as early as 1747. Since the records in this year pertain to land, presumably they had been here for a while. It appears that Francis Jacoby was old enough to be a chain carrier in this year, so he might have been born about 1730, or earlier. Later, John Francis Lucas Jacobi mentions brothers and sisters, so we have a family. His future wife was born in 1744, and they were married in London in 1764, when he was, probably at least 34 years old and she was about 20. I will assume that they returned to Virginia after the marriage.
Johanna Friederika Lotspeich, the wife of Francis Jacobi, had two brothers who came to Virginia also. One of them is known to have come after Johanna's marriage, and I suspect that the other one came after her marriage also. In other words, she wrote home to them and encouraged them to emigrate.
Johann Wilhelm Lotspeich was four years older than his sister, Johanna. We know that he married Magdalena Klug, daughter of Rev. Klug, who died in 1764, in Culpeper Co. In Johann's estate settlement in 1775, William Lotspeich is mentioned, but that is not evidence that William was married to Magdalena in 1764. According to some estimates of her age, she was much too young to marry in 1764. William Lotspeich was active in land trading in Culpeper County (I believe his first land record is in 1771). The first mention of Magdalena is in 1774. Matthew Broyles, in Greene County, Tennessee, gave a power of attorney to William Lotspeich, of Stafford Co., Virginia. (The two men had married sisters.) In 1781, William is in Culpeper Class 106. The trail goes cold here for a while, but in 1811, he is mentioned in a Kentucky paper in the matter of a stolen watch. Magdalena died in 1820, in Lexington. Later, William married Sarah Sprake, and he died in 1828, at the age of 88. Five children, four of them daughters, are known. The son was David. However, in 1819, a Benjamin Lotspeich is twice mentioned in the newspaper as a tobacco manufacturer. He might be an additional son.
The other brother of Johanna Friederika Lotspeich was Johann Christopher. He was born in 1750, and died in 1830, in Greeneville, Tennessee. His arrival in America was in 1772, on the ship Catherine. Four years later, he was a witness in the Culpeper Co. deed book. In the Bourbon Co. Deed Book it is recorded in 1795 that he received a distribution from his uncle's estate. He was said to be " of Virginia ". Apparently, the record is in Bourbon Co. because his sister was living there. In 1798, there is a record in Greene Co., Tennessee, in which Christopher signed a release to his uncle's executors.
Christopher was a resident of Greene County for many years, since he had a North Carolina land grant in 1788. His will was proven in Greene County in 1830. He had married Rebecca Barbara Hartley, in Culpeper Co., Virginia, and they were the parents of fifteen children. Christopher was a Quaker, who would not allow any work, including cooking, on Sunday. However, Rebecca was a Methodist, and two of their sons were Methodist ministers.
(02 Feb 01)
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.