At the start of the half-centuries in this note series, I give some explanation about them. I interpret their purpose liberally. That is, no restrictions are placed here on good, honest inquiries or statements of facts. I welcome the discussion of what is evidence and sometimes write about the problems of evaluating evidence. That is a valid subject for everyone, including Germanna citizens.
A first point to be made is that these notes are not evidence. In many cases I do think that they come closer to the truth than what has been published before. But I know how fallible I can be. Please recognize that many of them are written from memory alone. (Need I say anymore? Now, what was I writing about?) So, having established that they are not evidence, what are they? They are intended to be some pointers to a wide range of facts and literature that you may find useful. Some of them pertain to one specific family and some of them apply to a much broader range of people. In fact, some of the notes go far beyond what we call Germanna.
I hope that no one gets the idea that the notes pertain only to the families which have been discussed as Germanna families. I do not want to do this, as I do not know what families are to be included in "Germanna". New families keep popping up. I am not usually the one to find them; others have sent information along. I am very happy to report on some of them.
Perhaps the most common theme that people tell me is that they appreciate learning something about the times and the history of the regions from Virginia to Germany (or Switzerland or Austria). Information from the "old country" seems to be especially welcomed. After all, we are so far removed in time from the events that we no longer have any recollection of what it was like.
One of the aims of these notes is to present enough information that is interesting so that people will want to listen to what is said on the list, and will be ready to contribute when others ask questions. A productive list takes a certain "critical mass" to reach the useful stage. I think that we have one of the largest and most productive lists. My aim is to keep it interesting. Our partner in this, George Durman (SgtGeorge), works hard to keep it running smoothly and to keep an archive of these notes.
Did you notice in the last paragraph how I slipped from "my" to "our"? Again, I emphasize that this is
our
list. Each of us needs to work to make it run smoothly. Some things do appear here which do not belong here, as measured by the information content, or by the attitude taken. So let us each ask if what we say does improve the list.
(21 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.