John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1801

This is the first of another one hundred notes.  I will deviate from the usual pattern for the Century and Half-Century notes.  As many of you know by now, I have stopped Beyond Germanna , the newsletter/journal that I published for fifteen years.  Because many of you are slightly confused by my role in the whole Germanna endeavor, let me elaborate a bit.

The Germanna Foundation has existed for neigh on to fifty years.  This is a formally organized body with a Board of Trustees and a recognized physical center of activity and a tax exempt status.  The work will go on as directed by their Board of Trustees.

Fifteen years ago, I was very disappointed in the frequency of the Foundation's newsletters (once a year) which were the major means of communicating with other members, and I started a newsletter (using an IBM Selectric typewriter) to be issued six times a year.  At that time, computers were very rare and the Internet did not exist for the public.  My effort was completely outside of, and independent of, the work of the Foundation .

I did this as a private endeavor being the "Board of Trustees", the "President", publisher, editor, and many times a contributor of Beyond Germanna .  I own the name, the publication, and the rights to it (which I have shared generously with those who have asked).  It was run as a "nonprofit" activity to cover my expenses.

Over the course of the fifteen years, my newsletter, Beyond Germanna , changed from being a means of communicating with other subscribers to being a means of publishing research.  Throughout this entire period, the endeavor was mine, with the help that I obtained from the contributors of articles.  After fifteen years, the wear and tear was beginning to show on me.  (Next month, I will be seventy-four years old and I simply do not have the energy that I once did.)

I decided to cease publication as of the November issue.  I want to pursue some other activities, some of which are related to Germanna.  My contributions will become more sporadic.  If I do have something to say, I am not sure just how I would express IT.  And I would like to assist some others in publishing their work.  That is to say, while I have not quit the field, I do expect my contributions to be erratic and in an undetermined form right now.

All of this comes down to the present situation, with regards to these notes, where I may not be as regular as I have usually been.  Some of them have been great fun to write, but others have been a chore which I did just to maintain the pace.  Many of the same thoughts that applied to Beyond Germanna would apply here.  My rights, though, are limited to the Notes I have written, which are copyrighted by me.  Nor does the Germanna Foundation have any special rights in the List here.  The List, in general, belongs to you.  Use it.
(10 Nov 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.