John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1217

I mentioned a book, but without specifics, which is of interest. The title tells all:

Robert A. Brock, ed., " The Official Letters of Alexander Spotswood, 1710-1722 ".
It was published a long time ago, 1882 to be exact. I believe, though, that I have had a copy in my hands. It is true, that what Spotswood wrote after 1722 was not official, in the sense that he was no longer governor; however, he did some of his best writing when he attempted to explain some of the things that he had done as governor. Nearly everything he wrote from 1710 to 1730, or so, is in the Public Record Office and available at the Virginia State Library.

Here are a couple of more things by Klaus Wust.

" Jacob Stoever and his 147 Germans in London ", which appeared in the Rockingham Recorder, 3, 20-23, 1979.
Or, " Guardian on the Hudson ", New York, 1984.
Klaus has also told the story of the ship Oliver, which was the downfall of so many would-be Germannaians. For this, he had to do his research in the notarial files of the City Archives of Rotterdam. He published a shorter version of this in Beyond Germanna in v.10, n.1.

For a short time, I will follow Klaus Wust from his article, " Palatines and Switzers for Virginia, 1705-1738: Costly Lessons for Promoters and Emigrants ".

Around 1700, many Huguenots went to Virginia, which aroused the interests of others in Europe. Franz Michel took note of this, and decided to see for himself whether something similar might not be done with Swiss citizens, especially the Anabaptists, who, like the Huguenots, were not welcomed where they had been living. Michel did not stay long in Virginia, but he did visit the Huguenot colony on the south side of the upper James River. He wanted to see what the conditions were there, and whether he could do something similar for a proposed Swiss colony.

He was very encouraged about Virginia, and hurried back to Bern. He might very well have been encouraged by the English in Virginia, who saw the settlements of foreigners on the frontiers as a way of protecting themselves from the Indians. (This is an idea that was repeated in the next couple of decades, not so much with Swiss, but with Germans. When Spotswood put Germans in Fort Germanna on the frontier, he had plenty of supporters, who saw this as a wise policy.) What Michel saw in Virginia's physical features and opportunities encouraged him also. So his report to friends back in Bern was very favorable.

Michel's two friends in Bern, Georg Ritter and Johann Rudolph Ochs, are names that appear again in Virginia's future, and in the future of Germans and Swiss. The three men decided they should go into the business of "colonizing". They would recruit people whom they would settle on land in the Americas. Just to be sure that he had seen the best opportunities, Michel went back to America as quickly as he could. On this trip, he wanted to explore more land and visit colonies other than Virginia.
(24 Jul 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.