Fort Redstone was originally thought to be in Virginia, but then it was conceded by Virginia to Pennsylvania. The site of it can be found on modern maps as Brownsville, south of Pittsburgh about halfway to the state line. An even easier way of locating it is to note where U.S. Highway 40 crosses the Monongahela River. This river flows north to Pittsburgh, where it joins with the Allegheny River from the north to form the Ohio River at Pittsburgh. Before the Revolution, it was not clear which colony the land around Fort Redstone lay in. Many Virginians thought it was in Virginia and land grants were issued to settlers by the colony of Virginia. As a consequence, many Germanna people took grants and moved there. At this time, Kentucky was not open for settlement.
One Germanna person who moved to Fort Redstone was Michael Thomas. His two wives and twenty-five children are a mystery, if these numbers are to be believed. Many of the children are known; no complete inventory exists though. But before we go into the children, let us start with some facts about Michael Thomas himself. He was born in Virginia as no record exists in the German church where an older brother and sister are noted. Also, he was never naturalized in America.
When did his parents come to America? We like to say 1717, with the other members of the Second Colony, but we have no proof of this. Michael’s father was John Thomas and his mother was Anna Maria Blankenbaker. She was born in 1687 and married in 1711. Her first child was born when she was almost 25 years of age (lacking about three weeks). By two husbands, she gave birth to ten children, of whom nine lived. One reason that she might not have come to Virginia when here husband did is that she could have been pregnant at the time of the trip and she decided to wait another year. We assume that Michael Thomas and a sister Margaret were born in America. But these must have been born almost before 1720, since, by her second husband, Michael Käfer, she had five more children. In 1730, she would have been 43 years old.
John Thomas, the father, left no records in America. He does not appear on the Spotswood importation list, nor was he or any member of his immediate family sued by Spotswood. Apparently Michael Thomas married at an early age for one of his sons is said to have been born in 1740. Michael had some land with his brother, John. He could have launched into marriage at an early age. His wife might have been 18 or 19 at the time of marriage, perhaps a year or two younger. We do not know her name. Her given name appears to have been Catherine. Speculation that she was Catherine Wayland, born in 1715, and an immigrant with her family to Virginia does not seem well founded, as she would have been a few years older than Michael.
(26 Jul 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.