A request has been made for a commentary on the section on Germanna in I. Daniel Rupp's book, " Thirty Thousand Names ", to use the short form of the title of this 1876 book. The material is familiar to a student of Germanna history, and one can tell who the first source was, even before the first sentence is completed. Rupp does cites his sources, so the author is confirmed. This is Rev. Hugh Jones, who lived in Virginia from about 1717 to 1722 when he returned to England. He was a good friend of Lt. Gov. Spotswood, and much of his information came from Spotswood. In 1724, Jones wrote a book which was published in England, " Present Condition of Virginia ".
Jones picked up a fact or two from one place and used them is another place, and sometimes he made minor errors in the misapplication of the facts. He refers to the Germans at Germanna as "some Germans sent over by Queen Anne". It is true that, when Christopher Graffenried passed through Virginia in 1710, he showed Spotswood a letter from Queen Anne, stating that Spotswood was to see that Graffenried's colony received land. Also, Queen Anne was responsible when the large group of Germans was sent to New York. From this involvement of Queen Anne, including also the use of her name in the coined name " Germanna " ( Germ for German + Anna for Anne), Jones falsely concluded that the First Germanna Colony had been sent over by her. This is not the conclusion that is generally made.
Rupp, in quoting from Jones, runs paragraphs together. The reader of Rupp could falsely conclude some things that Jones never said. Furthermore, it is not even clear that Jones had distinguished, in his own mind, the First and Second Germanna Colonies as separate entities. Some of his statements are ambiguous. In speaking about the Germans sent over by Queen Anne, he says that "they have now removed further up the river". At the time he left Virginia (which is assumed to be his last input on the state of Virginia), the Germans who "lived farther up the river" were the Second Colony. He may have been thinking of the First Colony, who had moved farther away from Germanna by 1722, but they were hardly "up the river". Again, he has taken some facts and misapplied them.
Jones goes on to say that there are Germans beyond those farther "up the river". From the things that he says about them, he is talking about the Second Colony. He associates these Germans with Beverley, grapes, and naval stores. From the letters of Spotswood, we know that this would be the Second Colony.
It is not at all clear that Jones ever got out of Williamsburg. His description of Germanna and the Germans sounds as if he is quoting hearsay. I don't believe that his description was based on first hand knowledge. And when Rupp quotes from Jones, he adds to the confusion. It shows how difficult it is to be precise about history.
(27 Feb 02)
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.