How did the humbler people live in Eighteenth Century Virginia? By humbler, I mean our German ancestors, who were neither more nor less humbler than the average citizen. The large planters lived on the larger waterways; the smaller planters were inland from the large rivers, on the creeks. The First Germanna Colony was on Licking Run, and the Second Germanna Colony was settled on the Robinson River and its tributaries, White Oak Run and Deep Run.
Starting about the first of the Eighteenth Century, the large plantations were building their houses of brick. Lt. Gov. Spotswood did his part to encourage this, as he saw to the completion of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg. Then he built his own house at Germanna, which from the evidence was a stately place. The great majority of the people were building with wood. The Rev. Jones thought the Virginia houses were prettier than the farmers' houses in England, but others have doubted this, because of the need to constantly rebuild in relocations closer to the tobacco fields. Some believe there was a temporary nature to the construction.
Observers have noted that the roofs were shingled with wood. The side and ends were typically covered with thin boards, probably laid in a lapping arrangement as shingles are. Apparently, the underlying structures were horizontal logs, to judge by some of the remaining old houses. A better chimney would be brick or stone, but the more common chimney was wood, which was covered on the interior with clay for fire protection. The typical early home did not have glass in the windows, only wooden shutters.
The more common houses fell into a standard geometric pattern. Not a lot of imagination was shown. Rules controlled the placement of doors, windows, and chimneys. With the passage of time, and the availability of a bit of surplus labor, more attempts were made to separate "nature" and "culture". The common planters of Virginia were declared to be sloven in their habits; however, there was probably a distinction between the English and German planters. Some observers drew a sharp demarcation, as they said the Germans could make a rock pile bloom.
With respect to the English, it is said that they neglected their orchards (everyone was required to plant a substantial one). They viewed these as feed lots for their animals, who de-barked the trees by rubbing against them. The fruit tended not to be picked for human consumption, but was knocked down for the animals to eat. One characteristic of the Virginia planter was to allow people passing by to pick fruit for their immediate consumption. This was a typical hospitality trait of the region. (A traveler who asked for a night's lodging would probably get it without any sense of financial obligation.)
Boundaries were marked by fences which ran irregularly. "Making a Virginia fence" became a proverb for inebriation. In short, the typical small plantation owner was often very informal in his arrangements.
(22 Jun 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.