I have commented here before that it was not certain that the Second Germanna Colony arrived, by the new calendar, in 1717. They perhaps arrived in the period from January 1 to March 24 of what was then English year 1717 but which today would be called 1718.
Though this seems late in the year, they did start from their homes very late. In the case of the emigrants from Gemmingen, it was the 12th of July by the German calendar then which was the same calendar as we use today. Some of the people making up the Second Colony were in London by August 5, for Christopher Zimmerman and George Scheible were sponsors for a baby at St. Mary le Savoy in London. They were still there on the 8th of September, for the daughter Dorothea of Michael Koch (Cook) was baptized at St. Mary with sponsors Henry Schneider and Eleanor Scheible. (All of the names mentioned so far are good Germanna names.) As late as September 30, the pastor at St. Mary was marrying a couple of "Palatines" going to Pennsylvania.
Voyages took, on the average, about ten weeks, but they could be longer. So it was nip and tuck whether the Second Colony arrived before January 1. As long as they arrived before the next March 24, they would say, by the English calendar then in use, that they arrived in 1717. Using the modern calendar, it might have been in 1718. I used to worry about this date and the universal comment that the Second Colony arrived in 1717.
I now feel more comfortable about saying the Lutheran congregation, which constituted the bulk of the Second Colony if not all of it, can be dated to 1717. We know now that they participated as a body at St. Mary le Savoy Church in London. They took communion there. They had children baptized there. They thought they had an agreement with the pastors in London for a pastor to be sent to them when they were ready. This last signifies that they expected to be together in America as a unified body.
I do not feel that it amiss to say that the body of people who formed the "Old Dutch Church" in Virginia, which became later the present Hebron Church in the Robinson River Valley, formed as a congregation in 1717. This was done in London and most of the people started for America in 1717. Some of the people were delayed for two years by the lack of transportation.
Why did the Second Colony start so late in the year? The people who left Freudenberg in 1739 left their homes in March, which was more typical. I have some thoughts on this question which I will go into in the next note.
(06 Mar 06)
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.