John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes
Note 1326
One of the false pieces of history which has been widely reported in the last hundred years is that Lt. Gov. Spotswood found iron ore soon after his arrival in Virginia. This has been repeated so many times that it is now believed by many to be true. It appears to have originated with Willis Kemper as a part of the fictions which he wrote in his histories. After he wrote this, others started repeating it, without questioning the truth of it. By now the story is probably in print in hundreds of places, but the number of occurrences is no proof.
What led Kemper astray was the letter of Alexander Spotswood in which he mentions "newly discovered iron". His newness to Virginia led Spotswood astray. The iron mines that he mentioned had been known for more than a hundred years, and, in fact, an iron furnace had been built
before
1622 on the site. The iron ore beds belonged to William Byrd, who brought them to the attention of Spotswood. Later writings of Spotswood show that he recognized his error. At no point, did he make any claim, or provide any evidence, that he had discovered iron.
The recruitment of the "miners" in the Siegen area had nothing to do with iron in Virginia, or with Alexander Spotswood.
Many people may have wondered why the First Colony (at Fort Germanna) were so far from the iron mines and iron furnace which were eventually developed. William Byrd tells us that the distance was thirteen miles from Germanna to the mines. The magnitude of this distance shows how improbable it was that the Germans were settled where they could work the iron mines. People, with a straight face, will say that the Germans were settled at the iron mines, when they were known to be thirteen miles away. In actuality, there was no knowledge of iron in the vicinity,when the Germans were settled. These same people will also ignore that for two years the Germans did nothing to reimburse Spotswood and his partners for any of their expenses.
One man, Brawdus Martin, recognized how improbable this account was. He tried to resolve the questions which were raised by the large separation of Germanna and the (future) iron mines. He accepted the fact that the iron mines, or, at least, a knowledge of them, existed before the Germans came. If this were so, then how is the separation of Germanna and the iron mines to be explained? His answer was that there were two Germannas. One of them, the first one, was at the iron mine. The second Germanna was the one that we know today.
This was hard for the typical reader to accept. It was not rational. In general, this view was not accepted. No one seemed to recognize that the problem was that there were no iron mines when the Germans came. Therefore, their separation from the mines was not material. There were other reasons to locate the Germans where we know today that Germanna is located.
(05 Jan 02)