Shortly after the expedition over the [Blue Ridge] mountains in 1716, Alexander Spotswood and his partners staked out 40,000 acres of land. This started just to the west of Germanna and ran on both sides of the Rapidan River to the junction with the Robinson River, and included land to the west of the present day town of Culpeper. This very exposed position would need settlers when it was patented, and Spotswood undertook to solve this problem. He wanted Germans, a large group of them, to occupy the land at the same time. Getting individuals to move this far out would not be easy. Why Germans? The experience with the Germans in Fort Germanna had been very good and Spotswood was impressed with their qualities. The Fort Germanna Germans did not have enough time left on their service for Spotswood and so he needed a "fresh" batch of Germans. He discussed the problems with the captains of ships and let them know that there was a need for which he would pay. One of them, Andrew Tarbett, brought about 80 Germans at sometime near January 1 (by the modern calendar, 1718, though the calendar in use then would have been 1717 on January 1.)
Paying for this immense tract constituted a small problem, so Spotswood delayed patenting the land. At the time that Spotsylvania County was formed, land in it was to be free for a period of years. Again, this was unusual legislation and Spotswood held off on issuing the patents until 1722 when he saw that his job as Lt. Governor was likely to end.
In taking up this land, Spotswood emphasized that it was for the purpose of making naval stores, a class of commodities that King George and Parliament urged that the colonies engaged in. This was perhaps a strategy to insure that the legislation to create Spotsylvania County with its free land would not be overturned in London. The King and Parliament were good people to have as friends. One of the partners of Spotswood in this enterprise was Robert Beverley, who was personally interested in grapes and wine. This point was not emphasized by Spotswood, but Fontaine and Jones make it clear that Beverley was interested in wine.
Spotswood had been burned by the cancellation in London of the Indian Trading Company. He was aware of how adversely the laws of Virginia or activities could be treated. He had been warned by the Board of Trade in his first year in Virginia that legislation creating an iron works in Virginia might be overturned. The Virginia Indian Trading Company had demonstrated that this might not be an empty threat. Land seemed a better possibility. It had been used by all of the powerful people in Virginia. The only threat to the program of land acquisition was the legislation that made land in the new county of Spotsylvania free. His best hope was to tie the use of the land that he, with his partners, took up was to put it to a use that the King and Parliament wanted implemented, namely naval stores.
(28 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.