Edward Porter Alexander notes that the land patent for 3,000 acres on the Meherrin River that Fontaine said that he wanted was never issued. Whether Fontaine proceeded beyond his wish is not clear but he certainly never prosecuted his claim to the land. Most likely, in my estimation, was that he lost interest when the Indian Trading company was declared illegal. Thus, there was less incentive for Spotswood and others to pursue their land claims and the region appeared less attractive to Fontaine. As we have seen from Fontaine's account, Fort Christanna was remote and isolated from the Tidewater civilization.
John Fontaine never acquired any land in Virginia for his own use. He did get a farm in King William County for his brother, James, and Matthew Maury. Peter Fontaine became the Rector of Westover Church, while Francis Fontaine became the Rector of Yorkhampshire Parish.
Fontaine was wrong about where the Meherrin discharged its waters. It flows into Albemarle Sound instead of Currituck Sound.
The Hicks or Hix who assisted Fontaine in laying out Fontaine's 3,000 acres was probably Capt. Robert Hicks (ca. 1658-1740), who was a prominent Indian trader. Perhaps he commanded the twelve rangers at Fort Christanna. He later accompanied Gov. Spotswood to Albany (NY) in 1722 to negotiate with the Indians. He assisted briefly in surveying the line between Virginia and North Carolina in 1728 when he was seventy years old. William Byrd II admired his cheerful energy and "his disdaining to be thought the worse for threescore and ten years." [Hear! Hear!]
Alexander believes that the avenue that Spotswood and Fontaine laid out at Fort Christanna was probably for the purpose of showing the proposed house of Spotswood to the best advantage.
Spotswood put the distance from Williamsburg to Christanna and back at 200 miles, about 25% higher than the 160 miles that Fontaine estimated. Spotswood was undoubtedly closer, for on the modern maps a straight line indicates 90 miles one way.
(02 Sep 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.