I continue with some possible interactions which might have had an influence on how people relocated. According to the research of Gene Dear, George Adam Raüser came to America on the ship Mary and Sarah, which arrived at Philadelphia on 26 Oct 1754. There was another individual on this same ship who also came to the Robinson River area of Virginia. This was George Ludwig Nonnenmacher. Neither of these men came directly to Virginia. George Adam Rieser married Margaretha Butlinger in Philadelphia on 6 May 1755 (at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church). He then settled in Newton township, Sussex Co., New Jersey.
Apparently several years later he moved to Virginia to judge by his first land purchase of 100 acres from Frederick and Sarah Baumgardner in 1774. The family appears in the German Lutheran Church (Hebron) records from 1776 on. (I have been transcribing the communions lists and I have never seen a five or six letter name spelled so many different ways.) The name tended to become Rasor in South Carolina and Racer in Virginia. Most commonly it is a variation of Risser or Reaser.
Is it just a coincidence that the Nonnenmachers also start appearing in the church register in 1776? The two families arrive in 1754 and about twenty years later they both appear at about the same time in Virginia.
Let me add to this set of coincidences by noting that the ship Loyal Judith, which brought Andreas Gaar in 1732, also brought the two men, Georg Adam Riser and Hans Georg Riser. Now Georg Adam Riser in 1732 may not be related to Georg Adam Käiser 1754 (don’t let the K and the R confuse the question; this is just a problem of reading the names from the list.) It strikes me that the 1732 man and the 1754 man are probably related.
So I am inclined to think there is some relationship between Gaar, Riser, and Nunnenmacher. It is not at all obvious from the known records, but it is extremely suspicious.
Again, I make the point that perhaps we have underestimated the relationships that existed outside of Virginia. These relationships were important in influencing
who
moved to Virginia, and perhaps
when
.
(06 July 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.