John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 2351

Every fifty Notes, I take time to mention the purpose of these Notes.

Many of us are proud of our heritage in the Piedmont of Virginia, even if our ancestors intended to go somewhere else in America.  This heritage is very rich in its history.  We have banded together in a society to recognize the pioneering efforts of these ancestors.

This history did not start with Virginia, nor did it end with Virginia.  We have a history in Europe, probably extending back to Africa.  In Europe, many different locations were involved.  Somehow, we gathered together and found our way to Virginia, even if this destination were more an accident than a planned destination.  We practiced many trades such as tool making, carpentry, weaving, wine making, baking, coopering, and tailoring, besides our work on the land.  We brought our churches with us.  Some of us disbursed from our original settlements, while some remained on the original home sites.

What is fun is to see how we individually connect with this history.  One tool that we have is The Memorial Foundation of Germanna Colonists in Virginia ( The Germanna Foundation ).  Another tool is the exchange of information such as the Rootsweb List Service provides.  To encourage people to read the messages on this List (*The GERMANNA_COLONIES Mailing List ), I started these Notes some Two Thousand Three Hundred and Fifty Notes ago.

The subjects that I write about are very broadly defined.  Mainly, the criterion for inclusion is that the material should be interesting, even if it goes beyond the narrower history of our collective **Germanna ancestors.  Some of the notes have a narrow application in that they may pertain to one family’s history for a short period of time.  While you may not find the history of another family to be of interest to you, please remember that your family may be the subject another time.  And, you may introduce your own family and raise questions.  These Notes are intended to make sure that you will have many readers who may answer your questions.

The Piedmont (i.e., foothills) of Virginia is the land between the Tidewater (the coastal lands) and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Many of the Germanic settlers in the Piedmont came directly from Germany, though some of the German-speaking residents in the Piedmont came from Pennsylvania, or from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Though sometimes I do write in a very general sense, e.g., writing about the contributions of German-speaking individuals in general, the essential nature of the list pertains to the Germans who lived in the Virginia Piedmont, the "Germannans".
(15 Aug 06)

(Note from GWD:  In case anyone reading this is a "newbie" to Germanna genealogical research, a quick reminder about the referenced List and a link to a definition of what "Germanna" means.

1. If you're not a subscriber to the GERMANNA_COLONIES Mailing List, and wish to join us, send an empty email to: " GERMANNA_COLONIES@rootsweb.com" (without the quotes, of course), and put ONE word in the subject line and in the body: SUBSCRIBE.

2. If you want to subscribe to the Digest Format of the Mailing List, do exactly as above except send to GERMANNA_COLONIES-D@rootsweb.com . [The difference between the Normal Mode and the Digest Mode is that in the Normal Mode the subscriber receives, in his/her email, each post as it is made to the List, while in the Digest Mode he/she receives a Digest which contains all the posts made to the List in one day, or when the size of the Digest reaches 18 Kb in size, whichever comes first.  The default for the Digest is "Plain Text", where all the posts are included in the body of the email.  A subscriber can request to receive the Digest in "MIME" format, where the body contains just a list of the posts and the actual posts are included as attachments to the email.  If a user wishes to receive the "MIME" format of the Digest, after receiving the Welcome Message indicating he/she is then subscribed, send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-admin@rootsweb.com and request to be switched to "MIME".]

2. You can read John's excellent piece on what Germanna means, i.e., "What Does GERMANNA Mean", "Who Is a Germanna Colonist", "Who Is a Descendant of a Germanna Colonist", etc., at this website , or at John's own website .)