The Rev. Hugh Jones wrote the book, The Present State of Virginia , which was published in England in 1724, and which was based on experiences in Virginia from 1715 to 1722. From the content, it appears that portions are not based on his personal observations, but are secondhand reports, and not always accurate.
He writes,
"Beyond Colonel Spotswood's furnace above the falls of the Rappahannock River, within view of the vast mountains, he has founded a town called Germanna from some Germans sent over thither by Queen Anne who are now removed up farther . . ."
We would not say the Germans were sent over by Queen Anne, though we understand why he might have thought this; however, their transportation was paid, in part, by themselves, and, in part, by Spotswood, without any contribution from Queen Anne.
About the Second Colony, he writes,
"Beyond this [Germanna] are seated the Colony of Germans or Palatines, with allowance of good quantities of rich land, at easy or no rates, who thrive very well, and live happily, and entertain generously."
The Germans he writes about might have been surprised to hear their life described in this way. Their writings later are the complete opposite of this. We know that it was the Second Colony he was writing about because he describes their work with grapes, wine, and naval stores.
Though I have distinguished between the First and Second Colonies, all of the early writers were confused about the distinctions and lumped them all together.
Jones mentions the expedition over the mountains and says,
"Gov. Spotswood, when he undertook the great discovery of the Passage over the Mountains . . . cut his Majesty's name in a rock upon the highest of them, naming it Mount George . . ."
". . .the Governor, upon their return, presented each of his companions with a golden horse shoe . . . some of which I have seen studded with valuable stones, resembling the heads of nails. . ."
As to whether Jones is a reliable reporter is doubtful. I have highlighted some of his errors already. Also, Spotswood did not undertake the discovery of a passage over the mountains. As Spotswood wrote, the passage had been discovered by some Rangers. No stone or mountain has been found with Mount George engraved on it. Fontaine who was on the trip does not mention this.
For reasons such as this, most modern writers hesitate to say there were Golden Horseshoes. No one has ever seen a single one, and the only person, Jones, who has said he had seen one is in error on a number of points. Most likely, the golden horseshoes are another "urban legend".
(02 Aug 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.