*[Hast du einen blauen Rock?]
Brother Gottschalk of the Moravians visited Germantown in the spring of 1748. He wrote:
"It was like a village in Germany in which the houses are far apart. The people were from the Siegen district and were all Reformed people. They lived about ten miles from the Little Fork of the Rappahannock [River]. They have as their reader the old Mr. Holtzklo, who receives annually from each family thirty pounds of tobacco as a salary. A church and a school are there. He preached at the church with the approval of all. They wanted him to be their regular pastor."In the summer of 1748, Bros. Joseph Spangenberg and Matthew Reuz visited Germantown where they stayed with an old friend by the name of Holzklau. The little village is settled with Reformed miners from Nassau-Siegen. They live very quietly together and are nice people. On Sunday, July 31, Bro. Joseph preached in the forenoon in their church and Bros. Reuz in the afternoon."
All of the Moravians agree on one point, namely that Jacob Holtzclaw was getting old. Actually in 1748 he was only 65 years old which we might not think of as “old”. To the Moravians he was old and thinking about the approaching end of his life. He actually lived for another twelve years as it was not until 1759/60 that he died. But in 1748, he was in Germantown, he was the reader, probably he was the school teacher, and he was envisioning that life was drawing to a close.
Under these circumstances, I find it incredible that some people today believe that Jacob Holtzclaw lived at Ashland Farm some ten miles or so from Germantown. He was needed at Germantown. He could live in Germantown in some ease as the land was cleared, the house was built, there was a school and a church which gave him some income. And he was needed in Germantown.
The testimony of the multiple Moravian missionaries would be that Jacob Holtzclaw lived and died at Germantown. The historical marker that has been placed at Ashland has several errors in it. The Holtzclaw family probably acquired the land before Jacob died (from the proprietor of the Northern Neck, not from Alexander Spotswood). I cannot believe that Jacob Holtzclaw built any substantial house at Ashland. Yes, a small house was probably built there for the people who farmed and worked on the land. But did Jacob Holtzclaw live there? No way.
*[Do you have a blue shirt?]
(16 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.