Candlelight tours in the Christmas season are popular in this area. Tonight (also last night), the Hans Herr House will hold a Candlelight tour. I will be "working" at the one tonight. Usually, the arriving visitors are greeted at the office door with live music. After this they receive about five minutes of information about Anabaptist thought, and/or the emigration of the Hans Herr party to America in 1710. (This is my role.) Then a wagon pulled by oxen takes people to the Hans Herr House which is only a short ride away, but how many people can say they have ridden in a wagon pulled by oxen for any distance?
After a tour of the house, visitors can proceed to the bonfire outside, where they can sip free cider and sing carols. If you need more food, there is usually some available. The evening can be quite delightful with only the cold air and crowds to mar the fun. But then the bonfire will warm you and the many people only serve to reinforce the sounds of singing.
How did I, a non-Anabaptist, get the job of explaining Anabaptist thought? I guess there is a little bit of the preacher in me, or at least I like to talk. I do appreciate the Anabaptists for a couple of reasons. First, they were reformers who had a strong influence on the future of religious thought. Secondly, had there not been Anabaptists I would not be here today. Or more strongly and pertinent to these notes, had there not been Anabaptists, there would not have been any Germanna Colonies.
When Franz Ludwig Michel went to America in 1702, he went to find a place to which Switzerland could ship the Anabaptists whom they wanting to expel. Michel spent many years in America, and he liked what he saw. While he did not forget his primary purpose of colonization, he did allow himself to become sidetracked in a pursuit of minerals, especially silver.
This led to a decision to recruit miners in Germany to work the silver mines that Michel thought he had found. And, so, the first Germanna Colony was born. Like many infants, the resulting child did not turn out to be what was expected. After a start to America with the objective of mining silver, the miners were diverted to another employer, though they maintained the original purpose of mining silver. A few years later, the silver was forgotten and iron replaced it. In this search, they were more successful.
The Germans had been very successful in keeping the peace on the frontier, and Lt. Gov. Spotswood wanted more Germans. After advertising among the captains of ships that he wanted a whole shipload, he succeeded in getting one captain to divert his load of passengers, whose intended destination was Pennsylvania, to Virginia.
Come on out to the Hans Herr House in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, from 5:30 to about 8:00. I don't think it will be quite as cold this year.
(08 Dec 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.