John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes
Note 2251
Every fifty Notes, I take time out to comment on the purposes and aims of these notes. After all, there must be some reason for writing them if I have devoted the labor, so far, in writing two thousand, two hundred, and fifty-one of these Notes. That raises a point. I am running out of subjects that are fresh, interesting, and appropriate. There are many subjects that I wish I could write about, but for which I do not have enough information. So that is one limitation.
My primary aim is to discuss the Germans who lived on the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, primarily in the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier, Madison, Orange, and Rappahannock, and their parent colonies. Many people who ask questions would do well to look at a topological map of Virginia and fix in their minds where the Blue Ridge Mountains are. As an alternative, the route of the Sky Line Drive follows closely to the summit of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Some other prominent geographical features are the Great Fork, which is the area between the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers; the Little Fork, which is present-day Culpeper County, and is the area between the Rappahannock and the Hazel (or Elk or South Fork) Rivers; and the Robinson River Valley, which is close to being the present boundary of Madison County. Germantown is in Fauquier County, about eight miles to the south and east of Warrenton.
German-speaking emigrants came to this region for more than sixty years, from 1714 to the time of the Revolutionary War. They came from diverse locations in Germany such as Nassau-Siegen, the Kraichgau (southeast of Heidelberg), and from several other areas of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Primarily, they came for economic reasons. They wanted a better living for themselves and especially for their children. Though they often left little behind in the way of material goods, they did leave relatives, friends, and a known environment, for the unknown toils of the New World. For this, the New World must be thankful, for they were a major force in creating a new civilization here. Of course, I speak here of all of the German emigrants who settled in the Colonies.
It is hard, at times, to separate the Germanna people from the other Germans in the same general area. So, some of my discussions in these Notes is very general, to help set the flavor and the themes of the emigrants and their contributions. Certainly, the Germanna people made their contributions in several areas. We also must recognize that the German emigrants worked within a system that was already established. Sometimes, I will discuss this framework. For example, the Germans did not
establish
tobacco as a medium of exchange, i.e., money. But they did
accept
it and they did grow tobacco.
(13 Feb 06)