It is not clear why Johann Lederer, apparently a citizen of Hamburg, went to Virginia. It also appears that once he was there he rather quickly launched three exploratory trips to the western regions. On one of these he had the commission of Gov. Berkeley of Virginia to explore the back country. This was the second and major one on which nearly all of his companions turned back. Lederer's return showed that the trip could be made and proved that the deserters were wrong. Their reaction was swift and strong and they attempted to smear his reputation and report. Very soon after this, Lederer went to Maryland.
That he wanted to become an Indian trader may have been a major reason for his explorations; however, by education he would have been a misfit in this endeavor. Perhaps he realized this and abandoned the idea. He moved from Maryland up to Connecticut where he was befriended by Gov. John Winthrop. In all three of the colonies, Virginia, Maryland, and Connecticut, in which he lived at least briefly, he was a friend of well-placed individuals and often practiced his medical skills which were highly valued by his patients. After about five years in America, he said he was returning to Germany.
His reports of the explorations were written in Latin. William Talbot, Secretary of the Province of Maryland, translated the reports and published them. Talbot said his objective was to publicize the findings of Lederer. Talbot fully believed the truth of Lederer's reports and felt that he had been mistreated in Virginia. Lederer received citizenship in Maryland and was given a license to trade with the Indians. Talbot left the province shortly after this and Lord Baltimore did not look with favor on friends of Talbot. This was when Lederer went to Connecticut.
In 1675, Lederer returned to Germany, saying that he would return; however, there are no further reports on the man, either in Germany or America. He had drawn maps, shown in Talbot's publication, and these maps were used in Germany for a few decades, even though there were errors. It is not surprising that there were errors, for the trips of Lederer to the back country were relatively short. He had a poor understanding of the Indian languages and probably misunderstood some of what he was told.
Because of the controversy surrounding him, much has been written about Lederer. Generally, the trend of the research about him has been favorable. In writing these two notes, I have used “ The Discoveries of John Lederer ”, with added letters by and about Lederer to Gov. John Winthrop, Jr. This book was edited with added commentary by William P. Cumming and published in 1958 by the University of Virginia Press.
Lederer could not believe that the Pacific ocean was just over the (Blue Ridge) mountains. Twice he was atop this ridge and all that he saw to the west were more mountains. At this time, the opinion in Europe and America was that the land mass was not extensive and that it constituted an island, hence the references in Europe to the “Island of Carolina”.
(28 Sep 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.