[Continuing the letter of Spotswood to Harrison.]
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 of 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 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 [i.e., leases], 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 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), 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 who I employ, 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 skilled in. [Perhaps the reason that the 28,000 acres tract does not appear on the rent roll is that he held it up from being recorded to check a possible error.] [Explains the land in Brunswick County was to support the school for Indian children.] [Argues his case at more length using principally the arguments that the public good is being attained, and that it has been achieved at a cost to him in both money and effort.]
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.