[Continuing with John Fontaine, on April 21, 1716, returning to Williamsburg from Christanna.]
"This place is about 15 miles [the Nottoway River] from the fort. Here we parted with our guard of Indians and the Governor ordered them to have a pound of powder, and shot in proportion, to each man. So they left us. We crossed this river and rid fifteen miles farther until we came to a poor planter's house, where we put up for that night. They had no beds in the house, so the Governor lay upon the ground and had his bear's skin under him. I lay upon a large table in my cloak, and thus we fared until day which was welcome to us." April [22,]1716. The tenth day . On our way to Williamsburg. At 5 we got up and at 6 we mounted our horses and we took a guide who pretended to know the way and bring us a short cut, but instead of that he brought us out of our way about seven miles. When we found that he was lost, we dismissed the guide. The sun shined out clear, so the Governor he conducted us and about four of the clock we came to James River and took the ferry and about 6 of the clock we mounted our horses and went to Williamsburg, where we arrived about 8 of the clock. I supped with the Governor, and being well tired, after went to my lodgings and to bed. This journey coming and going comes to one hundred sixty miles."
This account was taken from " The Journal of John Fontaine " and covers some events in the time frame 1710 to 1719. It was edited with an introduction by Edward Porter Alexander. The editing consists mostly of added notes to explain in more detail some of the things that Fontaine mentions but briefly. It was published by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and distributed by the University Press of Virginia. My particular copy was copyrighted in 1972.
The Journal is divided into nine parts. Usually, two of these, entitled
Land Hunting to Germanna
and
Over the Blue Ridge
, are well known to Germanna students. We have just covered The Indians at Fort Christanna. In future notes, I will cover some of the comments made by E. P. Alexander.
(31 Aug 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.