Last Sunday, the Germanna Reunion met in the Germanna Community College where we had met on Saturday. There were several things that I considered noteworthy. During the roll call of family names, there was a large contingent of Holts (who would also be Scheible descendants). Usually, during this roll call, the only person who answers to “Holt” is Ora Seay; however, this time they may have had the most people who answered to any family name. That is not easy considering the number of Hitts, Clores, and Willheits who usually attend. Unfortunately, on Friday during the Heritage tour of Madison County, we could not visit the Holt land patents because the roads are not adequate for large busses. We could have gone in several cars. Several years ago, I did something similar with the Ambergers and it was a most enjoyable time, even for me where I am not an Amberger (and even though the roads were pools of melted tar). The reason I am mentioning this is that now is the time to start planning your family reunion at the next Germanna Reunion.
Most people will remember the 2006 Germanna Reunion, not as the 50th anniversary of its founding, but as the time that Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Spotswood appeared together before the group. It was not easy to have both at the same time and in the same discourse but, due to some startling discoveries, it was possible. In the Eighteenth Century, they did not know each other but both were aware of several people who had lived in Virginia so they could compare some notes. One had been a staunch advocate of the monarchy and the other had rebelled against it. In their personalities, they were very different. Spotswood looked on Jefferson as a windy philosopher, while Jefferson, with some disdain, looked on Spotswood as narrow-minded.
If you visit Williamsburg (today), you may be able to hear Jefferson which is a full time occupation for Bill Barker. Spotswood’s enactment is performed by a man who also does other men as well. Both of the men have performed together on several occasions.
The third item I would mention is the establishment of the Germanna Association. This will take quite a bit of discussion so I won’t go into it very much in this note. In the first fifty years of the Germanna Foundation, which remains, the membership at large was never given the vote. With a need to enlist the membership in more activities related to Germanna, it was felt that a new organization could be very helpful. Giving the membership some more say in the broader purposes would be helpful and the members could be useful to relieve the paid leadership of some of the details. At the same time the Trustees wanted to adopt a very conservative approach to the assets of the Foundations to prevent their misuse. The problem was how to give the members some say without allowing them to dissipate or destroy the assets of the Foundation.
(21 Jul 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.