On the Internet, I found a copy of the book “ The Knights of the Golden Horse-shoe ”, subtitled “ A Traditionary Tale of the Cocked Hat Gentry in the Old Dominion ” by William Alexander Caruthers. The book was only one dollar, in good condition, but the shipping cost more than the book did. It is a reprint made in 1970 of a much earlier version. If any of you are tempted to buy some of the other copies of the book, let me warn you that it is not easy to read six point type.
Most of the book is devoted to stories before and after the cross-mountain trip. You will immediately discover that there are warps in Caruthers’ time line. For example, before the trip begins, Alexander Spotswood is said to have two teen-aged daughters. Since the trip was in 1716 and Spotswood was not married until 1725, events are out of sequence. Caruthers had one handicap, he did not have the benefit of John Fontaine’s diary.
Examples of historical errors made by Caruthers include these:
[On the day of departure for the trip], “The Governor’s two daughters already had their horses saddled at the court of the Palace, intending to accompany the expedition for some miles on the journey.”
“. . .for the army once beyond the ruins of Germanna, every foot of the route had to be marked by him [Joe] . . ”
“. . . he [an Indian] was next interrogated as to his agency in the massacre and burning of Germanna.”
“Notwithstanding the horrors of the massacre at Germanna, many of the remains of which stared our adventurers in the face, upon their arrival there the night was spent pretty much as the others had been . . ”
“Two delightful weeks were spent in the valley of Virginia [the Shenandoah Valley] by the Governor and his followers.”
If we were to believe Caruthers, many members of the First Germanna Colony were killed by the Indians in a massacre.
[I will take the book with me to East Tennessee for the Reunion this weekend and perhaps I can read some more in it. Until I return, there will be no more Notes.]
(7 Sep 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.