John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1966

Continuing extracts of the letter of Alexander Spotswood to Col. Nathaniel Harrison:

“But about two years afterwards I received a letter from Sr. Richard telling me he had at length considered that he was advanced in years, that his health was of late impaired, and that the undertaking was at too great a distance, and therefore he was determined to drop the project.  Whereupon, rather than enter into a contention for my reimbursements, I chose to joyn in with several Gentlemen here, who were willing to carry on the project, and bear their proportion of the charges I had already been at; and so the mine tract, consisting of 15,000 acres of land, was in 1719 [1720 by the modern calendar] taken up by nine or ten Adventures.  About the same time I fell into another partnership of land [etc.].  Mr. Robert Beverly having discovered some excellent land among ye little mountains, and made a survey thereof before the Proclamation issued in 1710, concerning the granting land, but not daring to seat lands so remote from all Christian inhabitants, and exposed to Indians, found it in vain to take out a patent for the same under the new terms of cultivation; until an oppertunity hapned of freeing a considerable number of German families imported in 1717 [this could be 1717 or 1718 by the modern calendar], when he invited me to become a sharer in the land, and at the same time admitted in some other partners, to the end we might all joyn our abilities to make a strong settlement with a body of people at once.  Accordingly I came into the proposal, as judging it no ways unbecoming to me, in the station of Governor, to contribute towards the seating H.M. lands; and paying down the passage-money for 70 odd Germans, we settled them upon our tract as freemen (not servants) in 20 odd tenements, all close joyning to one another for their better defence, providing them there with a stock of cattle and all other things necessary for their support, without receiving (even to this day) one penny or penny's worth of rent from them.  The tract then consisted of about 13,000 acres, but afterwards understanding that many others of the Germans, who had been sold for servants in this Colony, designed when the time of their servitude was expired, to come and joyn their country-folks, we thought it needful to inlarge the tract; and I finding, by the care which the Lords Commissioners of Trade took to send over the methods for making hemp and tar, that the Ministry at home was for encouraging the Plantations to raise Naval Stores, judged it convenient to take in a large quantity of piney lands, which lay contiguous and fit for tar and masts; and so it was increased to a tract of 40,000 acres.  And considering the number of free people we have seated upon it (with whom we agreed to allot them out of it sufficient lands for their lives) and who are now about 100 Germans it will not appear such an exorbitant possession as some persons have been pleased to represent it.  And if I am now become possessed of both this and the Mine tract without any sharers, I have been brought into that circumstance more by necessity than choice; for it is well known here that two of my principal partners dying, the executors of the one, and the heir of the other positively refused to go on with the design; and that a third fell under such encumbrances as obliged him to give it over, and all the rest growing less sanguine upon the undertaking, than they were at first, I found myself reduced to the delemma of either seeing an hopeful project (which I firmly believed would prove a publick good) miscarry, or of taking the whole adventure upon myself, which last part I chose to act, and so reimbursed everybody the utmost penny that they had expended [etc.].  [Explains the source of the 28,000 acre tract.]  The main inducement to the inlarging my tracts by taking in the intervening lands, and adding some others contiguous to the Mine tract was to accommodate several families of people, whom we have imported, and must still import more, in order to carry on so grand an undertaking as that of raising all manner of Naval stores; and the agreements I make with the persons whom I imploy, will manifest that I have not taken up the land to sell it for their gain, but only expecting a moderate reimbursement of my charges, appropriate a great part thereof to the setling people near to the works they are skill'd in.”