(Reference is made to the map at www.germanna.com/CulPepCo.htm for the Great Fork.) When the First Colony moved to their new homes at Germantown, they had to cross two rivers, the Rapidan and the Rappahannock. The distance seems to be about twenty miles. Fort Germanna was in Essex County in 1719, the best estimate in time of when they moved. After crossing the Rappahannock, they were Statford County.
The lands in the Great Fork were the subject of a debate between the Colony of Virginia and the Proprietors of the Northern Neck. At first, the lands were considered not to be in the Northern Neck, and, therefore, the colony of Virginia was the agent (on behalf of the Crown) for distributing the land. Lord Fairfax pushed his claim as Proprietor of the Northern Neck (which was all of the land between the Potomac and the Rappahannock Rivers) to the area in the Great Fork. The basic question was whether the Rapidan or the Rappahannock was the larger waterway. Surveys were made along with claims until Lord Fairfax appealed to the King in England. Surprisingly, the King, in consultation with his Privy Council, allowed the land to go to Lord Fairfax in 1745. Thereafter, in the Great Fork, grants became the rule, not patents. Many of our people took out grants for their land even though they had a valid patent.
The Second Colony people, in moving from their homes along the north shore of the Rapidan River just above Germanna to the Robinson River Valley said the distance was forty miles but it appears that it would have been less than that. The Spotsylvania Tract of 40,000 acres (actual was about 65,000 acres) was located along both sides of the Rapidan River west of Fleshman's Run to the Robinson River, then along the Robinson River up to Meander Run and then across to Mountain Run just above Fairfax (not there at the time), around Fairfax, then back south and east to the beginning. Along Mountain Run, Col. Carter had a large land holding. At the juncture of the Rapidan and the Robinson River, Prof. Fry had a large holding. To the west, Beverley had a large holding. (The Beverleys also had large holdings in the Little Fork as we saw on that map.) One reason the Second Colony moved so far west was because so much of the land between Germanna and Robinson River Valley was already claimed.
You may have noticed that I have preferred not to refer to the Second Colony permanent homes as being located at Hebron. Instead, I prefer to say the Robinson River Valley. First, the name Hebron does seem to have come into use before about 1850. Secondly, the church was Lutheran and many of the people living in the area were Reformed, Anglican, Friends, or later Baptist. Saying Hebron implies something about the religious beliefs of the settlers which might not be true. As you can see on the map, the northern parts of what became Madison County, where many of our people were living, was not in the Robinson River watershed. Still, I feel that "Robinson River Valley" is the best descriptor.
(17 Dec 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.