"Believe It or Not," Ripley used to say. Some of the strangest stories come from life, not from fiction. Here, we have reached the 1151st note in a series that, at first, was going to be a short set. Probably, there never need be an ending to the endeavor. There are always new things to write about, and, of course, repetition helps to set the story in the minds of people. My ability to write will probably be the first thing to be the limiting factor. But it hasn't given out entirely yet. When I have to relinquish the writing, others can pick it up, and their ideas may differ from mine.
But while I am able to continue writing (which does not preclude anyone else from writing simultaneously and perhaps in a different vein), I will emphasize some of the following thoughts. Our Germanna people were no different from other Germans, who immigrated to America. So, from time to time, the topic may be very general and not specific to Germanna.
Our people did not always come directly to Germanna from Germany. Many had lived in other colonies before they came to the Germanna area. And the Germanna people spread out to many other colonies. So there are some threads that connect us to many regions. Just looking for our information in the counties where the Germanna people were supposed to live cuts us off from many good sources. A correspondent has just pointed out to me that a "Shenandoah" pastor's record book contains a list of communicants for the German Lutheran Church in the Robinson River Valley. There is a lot of information in the English archives, such as the Public Record Office, which pertains to our people. Of course, there are many records in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland that remain to be examined.
We have archaeological work to do in Virginia. Fort Germanna has been located, but it has never been detailed. The homes of the Second Colony have been generally located, and some detailed information is available. These are candidates for exploration. So, there is a lot of work to be done.
Some of the things that I have mentioned are very exciting, but the most fun is to detail some of the relationships between the people in the Germanna Colonies. I hope to show in the next note how a dry record, namely a deed, can come to life, and shed information on an interesting story. This brings us right to the heart of the community. This activity will be more restrictive or narrower in scope. But even here, some of the players who were not major players still have an interesting story to tell. I am thinking right now of the Henkels and the Hupps, who are interesting in their own right. while their presence in Germanna is not major.
Let me close by saying that this is
your
list. Use it. Maybe you are seeking information, or perhaps you have a story to tell. Join in the fun.
(25 Apr 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.