Relative to the last note, a reader asks what the relationship of the Germanna Colonies was to the Germans in Loudoun County (in the northern tier of Virginia counties). The reader observes that the Loudoun County Germans seem to be nearer the Germans in Frederick, Maryland, and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He is correct about the association to their northern brethren as opposed to any association to the south and the Germanna people.
Very few Germans came directly into Virginia. Both of the first two Germanna Colonies came because of an external influence, not their own desire to be in Virginia. The fifty odd people from Freudenberg that intended to come to Virginia in 1738 were able to choose a ship that was going to Virginia but this was a special case, as the ship had been chartered to convey a group of Swiss who intended to settle on land owned by William Byrd. In Rotterdam, the Germans happened to find a ship going to Virginia and they joined it. In 1750, the Reiner family left Schwaigern in Wuerttemberg intending to go to Virginia but, like nearly all of the German emigrants, their choice of ships was limited to Pennsylvania and more rarely New York or Maryland. So they went to Philadelphia and then found, almost immediately, their way down to Virginia.
Most of the German settlement in Virginia took place out of Pennsylvania and Maryland. Quite early on, a road was established from Philadelphia that went west to Lancaster, York, and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. As the road approached the Appalachian Mountains it was turned south to avoid having to cross these mountains. It then passed on through Maryland to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. This route was so well known that it was called the Great Wagon Road. Today it is approximated by Interstate 81. The people who settled along the Great Wagon Road were oriented to Pennsylvania. The people who settled in Maryland came either from Pennsylvania or Baltimore. Many Notes ago, there were several accounts of a trip south by Moravian Brothers from Bethlehem in Pennsylvania. At this time (1740s), the road was still being forged.
Was there any interaction between these Great Wagon Road Germans and the Germanna Colonists? Yes, there was some. There are several names in the German Lutheran Church (Hebron) in Orange and Culpeper Counties who are identified with Shenandoah Valley. One that comes to mind is George Trumbo who lived in what is now West Virginia. On some trip that he made, he met and married Margaret Utz. Their first child was baptized in the Culpeper German Lutheran Church. Or Rev. William Carpenter’s mentor and teacher was based in a Lutheran church in Winchester. Rev. Henkel preached on both sides of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Rev. Klug from the German Lutheran Church used to ride the circuit in the Valley, preaching, baptizing, and giving communion. He was there enough that the Moravians wrote off Virginia as fertile ground for their message.
(21 Feb 05)
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.