Col. Alexander Spotswood's land acquisitions brought him a peck of trouble. He was urged to visit England and appear before the Board of Trade and Plantations. In a letter dated 16 June 1724, he explained to the Board that he had been unable to get passage on a warship and he was afraid to travel on a merchant ship. His fears were founded on the extensive campaign he had conducted against pirates. If he were to travel on an unarmed merchant ship, he was afraid the pirates might try to take him prisoner. He also explained that he was engaged in a naval stores project, which was also contributing to his delay. But he added that he hoped to go northwards incognito and catch a ship there. One of the things he said that he hoped to accomplish in England was to protest the false accusations made against his character by a carpenter, Larken Chew, who had obtained the confidence of Major Drysdale, the new Lt. Gov. of Virginia. Spotswood's letter, of 16 June 1724, was received in London 2 September 1724. In about three months, Spotswood appeared before the Board in London and asked that he be notified if any thing came before them which pertained to him.
Before he had written to the Board in June, Spotswood had written a letter to Col. Nathaniel Harrison, who was the Deputy Auditor of Virginia. This is absolutely necessary reading for a descendant of the First and Second Germanna Colonists who are trying to understand the events that happened in those first dozen years or so. Maybe in the future, we can go through it here. [I probably have done so in the past but it wouldn't hurt to do so again.]
In this time period, say 1724, pirates were still active. Three merchant ships of England were captured by Spanish pirates. Also, the year 1724 was not a good year weather-wise. First, there was a drought, which limited the production of corn. Second, there was a violent storm on 12 August, which damaged the tobacco crop severely. To counteract the scarcity of corn, an Act was passed which prohibited the export of corn. This was an attempt to keep all of the corn there was for consumption in the Colony.
The next summer (1725), Drysdale could report excellent prospects for tobacco and corn, and the restrictions on the export of corn were lifted.
In December of 1725, the Attorney General of England explained to the Board of Trade why he had not issued a report on the land acquisitions in Virginia, especially those of Col. Spotswood. The Colonel had appeared before the Attorney General and asked that no report be issued until he had an opportunity of presenting his side of the case.
If you observe that:
I think you would be correct.
(21 Oct 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.