The Germanna Foundation , to use its short name, has been and probably will be in the news in the immediate months. Some of you may not be familiar with the history of this organization, so I thought I would extract some of the comments of Charles Herbert Huffman, who was its first president, and very involved in the organization of the Foundation.
In 1953, some Germanna descendants erected a monument to commemorate the First Colony. A newspaper article telling of the event had a good circulation and even reached Siegen in Germany. A Mr. Luck, or Lück, in Germany, was particularly interested in this, as he was working on a history of iron in the Siegen area. He requested permission to quote from the article, and permission was given. In the ensuing exchange of letters, Mr. Luck mentioned that the Saint Nicolai church [see the photo page for Siegen] was being rededicated after being rebuilt from the severe damage caused during World War II. At the invitation of Mr. Luck, Professor Huffman wrote a short note.
The article was read by a Hanna Flender in Siegen, who sent it on to her brother Ernst in New York City. Mr. Flender wrote in 1955 to Professor Huffman, asking some more details about the colony of Germans. Mr. Flender admitted to being only vaguely aware that such a migration had taken place. In connection with a trip he had to make to Virginia, he asked if he could talk to Prof. Huffman and perhaps see the monument; however, due the force of circumstances, the first meeting between these two men took place in New York City. The main conclusion of this meeting, in April of 1955, was an agreement to meet again.
This took place in early June, in Charlottesville, in the Monticello Hotel. After dinner with the members of the Flender family, Prof. Huffman and Mr. Flender repaired to the hotel lobby and discussed the present and future prospects for Germanna development. According to Prof. Huffman, there was no interest in evidence at that date, nor was there any future prospect. Mr. Flender concluded by saying that he would send one thousand dollars as seed money. He also suggested that Prof. Huffman contact owners of land where Fort Germanna might have stood to see if they were willing to sell. He also instructed Prof. Huffman to obtain a good lawyer with a view toward establishing an organization to the memory of the Eighteenth Century emigrants.
Prof. Huffman sought the advice of Mr. J. B. Carpenter, Sr., of Culpeper, and Dr. John W. Wayland, of Harrisonburg. Setting up the organization went more quickly than obtaining real estate. The initial committee consisted of T. W. Fishback, C. H. Huffman, B. L. Stanley, Frank C. Switzer, and J. W. Wayland, plus Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Flender as interested parties. Early in 1956, the trustees requested approval of a charter of incorporation. That June, the Trustees met to discuss the offer of 270 acres of land, within the original Germanna tract, for ten thousand dollars. The Trustees accepted the offer and also accepted the gift of Mr. Flender of sixteen thousand dollars.
(24 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.