Other errors by Kemper are embedded in the statement he made,
"The members of 'Our Colony' did not leave their home not knowing where they were going, nor because they were compelled to. They were engaged to go, and knew where they were going, and what they were to do."
Most of these statements are false.
Albrecht had been recruiting since 1710, but, by 1713, Graffenried had written that he had told the Germans not to come because the mines had not been found. As to where they were going, the best guide would be in what Albrecht was writing. He said he was the mine captain in South Carolina of the gold and silver mines. He also wrote that he had been appointed the mine surveyor in Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other provinces. At no point did he mention iron. It is safe to conclude that when the Germans left home, they did not know where they were going, or what they would be doing exactly, except they expected they would be mining in some general sense. Then, especially after they got to London, they were stranded and would have taken advantage of any opportunity that came their way. It is true that they were not compelled to go, though it must be remembered that economic conditions around Siegen were terrible in 1713.
We now come to some general history as expressed by Raleigh Travers Green in " Genealogical and Historical Notes on Culpeper County, Virginia ", which was published in 1900. With respect to Germanna, he wrote,
"These Germans came from Oldensburg or were a remnant of a settlement planted under the auspices of the Baron de Graffenried in North Carolina . . . "
The first part is a mystery as to where he obtained this thought, though the second part is understandable. Graffenried had attempted to relocate the survivors of the North Carolina colony in Virginia, but they declined to follow him. This is clear in Graffenried's manuscripts, which had now been published in English, so Green had no excuse for second part of his statement.
Green writes,
"The Germans landed at Tappahannock and a dispute arose between them and the captain of the ship in which they sailed about the money for their passage . . . hence, the settlement at Germanna."
The last part implies the First Colony, but there was no dispute between them and the Captain, as it had been agreed what they would pay, and what Spotswood would pay. Perhaps Green might have been thinking of the Second Colony, where there was a dispute between them and the Captain. Since the Captain was fulfilling an "order" of Spotswood, he would surely have gone to where he would expect to find Spotswood, which would have been much more likely to have been at Williamsburg than at Tappahannock.
Green uses information from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Foreign Parts petition,
"Beyond [Germanna] is seated the Colony of German Palatine . . . [who]. . were probably the founders of Germantown in Fauquier."
This repeats the confusion as to the distinction of the First and Second Colonies.
(08 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.