*[Wie geht es dir?] oder [Wie geht’s?]
I have heard it said that records are never lost (well, some are burned). One must look very hard but somewhere the records are to be found. If this philosophy were true, where would be the best or most likely places to look for the records of the Fort Germanna/Germantown Church?
After Rev. Haeger died, Jacob Holtzclaw became the religious leader in the Germantown community. He was not ordained, but, more than anyone else, he attempted to keep the church at Germantown going. He would have had the Book of Church Records which most likely would have been passed on to one of his descendants. If the record book does still exist, it would not necessarily be in the possession of a family surnamed Holtzclaw because of the likelihood that a daughter inherited it.
Some idea about the religious services in the days after Rev. Haeger died is obtained from the Moravians, whose missionaries visited Germantown. In 1743 and 1744, Rev. Schnell and Robert Hussey wrote that they visited a “reader” in Germantown by the name of Holzklo. He, Holzklo, said that Mr. Rieger had come twice every year to preach for them and to administer Communion but he had returned to Germany and no one came now. The people at Germantown had attempted to obtain a minister from Germany but none were willing to come. Rev. Schnell preached and said the officers of the church offered a home and land if someone would come and be their minister.
In the spring of 1747, Rev. Schnell made another visit. He described the visit as starting at the Little Fork with Jon Jung [Young] and [John Henry] Hoffman who accompanied him across the North River of the Rappahannock.
"Very late in the evening I came to the old Mr. Holtzklo in Germantown. After I had sat for a short while with the man, he asked me if I were a preacher. I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Would you stay with us till Sunday and give us a sermon?’ Since I had other appointments for Sunday, I told him that I could not. Then he asked me if I could preach on Friday and I said that I could." As Holzklo is getting old he is becoming religious. He asked his children to come into the room, and by various questions gave me an opportunity to tell them something about the Savior. On Thursday I rested. I had several visitors during the day, especially the old schoolmaster of the place who came to see me. He begins in his own way to prepare himself for his departure, because he sees that there is no other way, nor any possibility to remain in this world, but that he must die."
*[How are you?] (Literally: How is it going for you?) or [How goes it?]
(15 Mar 07)
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.