I began to obtain my first good picture of how the Germanna Colonies came about when I read the article by Klaus Wust in " Yearbook of German-American Studies, Volume 19 (1984) ". The article was entitled " Palatines and Switzers for Virginia, 1705-1738: Costly Lessons for Promoters and Emigrants ."
After a few Huguenots and Swiss had emigrated to Virginia around 1700, a young adventurous man from Bern, Switzerland, namely Franz Louis Michel, decided to follow their trail and sample the opportunities for trading and settling in Virginia. His preparation for this was that he was the son of a former member of the Great Council of Bern, and a former soldier on duty with the French. Due to him we have the first authentic report on the Swiss and Huguenots in Virginia.
He boarded a Rhine boat on 8 Oct 1701, which reached Rotterdam on 30 Oct. It took him another month to reach London, where he landed 4 Nov. This path was to be followed by many others in the next decades. After six weeks of looking for a passage to America, he found, by chance, the ship Nassau. He boarded it on 15 Dec and found a bunk among 140 other persons on the same deck, many of whom were English indentured servants and some convicts. Two months later they were still in England though they had advanced to the Isle of Wight (Cowes). From here, they left on 18 Feb. The wait until then was for favorable wind and weather conditions. Seventy-nine days later (eleven weeks) on 8 May, the Nassau sailed into Yorktown harbor in Virginia. Thus, the trip from Bern had taken seven months.
Michel remained only a few months in Virginia, but in that time he saw a lot which he wrote about. His account is still available and gives some excellent glimpses into life in Virginia. (I used some of this material in much earlier notes.) He was back in Bern by the following December. (The east bound trip took less time than the west bound trip did.)
Michel wrote that craftsmen were scarce in Virginia and could command good wages. Skills that he saw in demand were carpenters, joiners (cabinet makers), coopers, shipbuilders, masons, smiths, locksmith, tailors, and glassblowers.
Michel described how an artisan could finance his trip to America for very little money. He said that any Captain in London heading for Virginia would take a man for the labor he could provide on the ship, plus what could be obtained in Virginia by agreeing to work for someone there for a period of time. This would cover the cost of the transportation and after the period of service was over, the person would be free to do as he pleased.
(10 May 03)
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.