[Willis Kemper reports that a part of the report, or appeal, published by Zollikoffer in Frankfurt in the Extraordinaire-Kaiserliche-Reichs Post-Zeitung (newspaper) reads as given in this note.]
Truthful Report of a High German Evangelical Colony at Germantown, in North Virginia in America."It will be remembered by everybody how some years ago several thousand people, of both sexes and different religions, emigrated from the Palatinate and neighboring places to be transported to America. Although a part of this people died and a part returned to Germany, yet 700 persons were sent to Carolina, and 300 [ should read 800 ] families to New York. But 72 families came to Virginia, the largest part of them, however had to pay the passage, according to the custom of the country, with several years of servitude among the Englishmen there. The rest, being free, consisted of thirty-two families, of whom twelve are Evangelical Reformed and twenty are Evangelical Lutherans. They, together with an old Reformed minister, Henry Hager, 76 years of age, have established a colony in the year 1714 in the said Virginia, called Germantown, on the Rapenhenck. Here at a well situated place, under the sovereignty of Great Britain, they support themselves in all quietness by agriculture and the raising of cattle, hoping that they will increase and prosper more and more, especially when within the next year the remaining German families, scattered through their servitude, will obtain their freedom and settle at Germantown and thus strengthen the colony."
The advertisement then asks for contributions for a church and a school house to be used by the colony " which is served by the above named minister in common ", and further states that the credentials of Mr. Zollicoffer were signed by Henry Haeger, " minister of the Germans in Virginia, John Jost Merdten, and John Jacob Richter, elders of the congregation ."
Notice that there is no mention of iron mining, smelting, or any industrial work. Zollicoffer emphasizes agriculture as their principal activity.
All of a sudden, forty families have been added to the appeal. This is the origin of the Third Colony concept, but no count of the Germans yields any number close to forty. In fact, Zollicoffer implies that many of these Germans had come long before 1720, the year in which he is writing.
Misstating "Germanna" as "Germantown" is natural. Most Virginias called it Germantown. Even John Fontaine uses the name Germantown more often than he uses Germanna.
(31 Jul 04)
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.