Just who the individuals were who came to Virginia in 1717 (OS) is not entirely clear. We do know the names of 48 individuals, men, women, and children, whose names appear in a Land Patent of Alexander Spotswood as head rights. The partners of Spotswood paid the transportation of some of the people and their names are not entirely known. Still, others might have been sold as servants to scattered planters in Virginia.
The other complication in enumerating the individuals who might be called the Second Colony is that some of the individuals who left Germany in 1717 were not able to progress beyond London in that year. Within two years though, they were in Virginia. Since they left at the same time, should they be included? Known individuals in this latter group are the families of Frederick Kappler, George Lang, and Christopher Uhl (Yowell). Another family who might be in this group is the Michael Willheit family.
Yet other uncertainties arise because there are no written records for some families, as for example, the John Thomas family. The relatives of Mrs. John Thomas (Anna Maria Blankenbaker) are known to have come in 1717, yet we lack proof that she came in 1717. It is possible that she was pregnant and did not want to make the trip in 1717, but came shortly thereafter. We do know that her sons had a Patent in 1726 when the other family memories had their Patents, but that is not a definitive statement that they came in 1717.
Spotswood referred to seventy-odd members of the Second Colony, and they referred to eighty people. It is fairly easy to count about 110 to 120 people who seem to have some evidence that they may have come in 1717. Limiting the count to less that 80 is difficult.
Rather than attempting a complete enumeration of the candidates for inclusion in the Second Colony, it is probably better to take a more relaxed attitude and consider many people as early immigrants in either 1717 (OS) or shortly thereafter. Still, there are many people who can be identified as arriving in 1717 (OS), especially as based on the head right list of Spotswood.
This list appears in the Patent of the 28,000 acre tract of Spotswood, and was reported by Nell Marion Nugent in Volume 3 of
Cavaliers and Pioneers
, on page 378. She read the Patent incorrectly, so it is best to read the Patent youselves. Additionally, the Patent has one error in it which can be recognized by someone who is familiar with the family members. A correct list is to be found in
Beyond Germanna
on page 385. But still this is only 48 names.
(26 Nov 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.