Before the Virginia Indian Trading Company legislation was cancelled, Alexander Spotswood had high hopes that it would be a very profitable enterprise. We can gather this from a letter of Richard Beresford written on July 4, 1716. In this, he writes that the Governor is now building a handsome house near Christanna (the base of the Indian Trading Company). The house was expected to cost about five or six hundred Pounds. Other people were also being encouraged by the Governor's example, and they too were building houses there.
The implication of these remarks is that Spotswood was preparing to abandon Germanna. There was nothing there to draw him to that place. There were no mines. He did have some land, not a major amount, which he planned on leasing to the Germans. This would require little attention on his part.
Beresford also mentioned that a company of twelve Rangers had discovered a passage through the mountains between the Rappahannock and the Potomac Rivers. [This would exclude Swift Run Gap, where several markers today announce that the trans-mountain expedition had passed.] Beresford wrote that the Governor, accompanied by three companies of Rangers and others, would perfect the discovery. Beresford speculates that there are two reasons that Spotswood is especially interested in learning more about this pass. One is that it will lead to new routes for trading with the Indians. Second, he notes that several people think the Governor is looking for mines in which to employ his Germans, some of whom are miners. Beresford also notes that [Franz Ludwig Michel] had reported to England that there were mines over the mountains and that this information had been relayed to Spotswood.
Beresford notes the Governor is under pressure from several men in Virginia where he has gained the ill will of most of the leading men in Virginia. They had complained to London and hoped to oust him, but Spotswood answered their charges well enough to keep his job. But he certainly realized that the Lt. Governorship was tenuous and he might lose the position at any moment. This made the search for an alternative income very urgent.
In view of subsequent events, Spotswood looked for another enterprise to earn money to support himself in retirement and this endeavor was land. This was a proven technique which most of the leading men in Virginia had used. When the trans-mountain expedition was under way, we see that a major effort was the discovery of land. He explored the land which Robert Beverley wanted to put into a land partnership, and crossed the Rapidan River to explore the land on the north side. Past the Robinson River, the route is uncertain, but if the remarks of Beresford about the location of the pass are correct, the party probably initially followed up the Robinson River. All of these areas fell into the land partnership which eventually became Spotswood's.
(27 Jul 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.