Starting about 1730, there was a growth in both the first and second groups by new members from Germany, or from other German colonies, especially from Pennsylvania. These additions never abated, even up to the time of the Revolutionary War. During that war, a few non-German additions were made to the groups from the British auxiliaries; however, by this time, descendants of many of the original families had moved to other colonies, especially southward at first, and then to the west. In the Germanna home area there were several pockets of settlements.
Perhaps the smallest settlement, in terms of the number of Germans, was the Mt. Pony group. Because they were so few, they quickly adapted to the surrounding English civilization. For example, Christopher Zimmerman became an officer in the militia within ten years, and all of the Germans were inclined to the Anglican church.
At Germantown, the site of the first permanent homes of the first group, the settlers were landlocked on three sides by the large claims of "King" Carter. No expansion in those three directions was possible. Across the Rappahannock River, in the Little Fork, land was free. Jacob Holtzclaw and John Fishback acquired land there quite early. John Hoffman acquired land in the Robinson River Valley and moved to it. Other members of the group acquired land to the north of Germantown.
The majority of the second group acquired their land "at the mountains", around present day Madison, Virginia. There were several very large claims between Germanna and the Blue Ridge Mountains, and they had to jump over these. Even though the English were also quick to come into this area, there was enough land available to allow expansion for quite a while. For example, John Hoffman kept expanding over a period of years until he had more than 3,500 acres, all in one parcel.
Life quickly settled down into farming. Though many of the individuals were trained in other occupations in Germany, they were principally farmers in America. As time went by, they built better and larger homes. The one problem that they all faced was having a church. In the early 1730’s, Rev. Häger died, and the first group was without a minister. They tried to obtain one from Germany, or from another colony, but the small size of the group worked against them. At Germantown, Jacob Holtzclaw was a reader. In the Little Fork, John Young was a reader. At Mt. Pony, they joined with the Anglicans. In the Robinson River Valley, they had no minister for about sixteen years, and were very anxious to obtain one. When Johann Caspar Stöver, a schoolteacher, visited the community, they saw an opportunity, and convinced him to become their minister. He went to Pennsylvania to be ordained. They found it would be difficult to support him, and to pay their tithes, required by law, to the Church of England, so they sent Stöver and two members to Germany to raise money. As a consequence of the success of the trip, they were able to build a church and keep a minister on a permanent basis.
(24 Mar 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.