GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: (457)Germanna Colonies, History of
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 07:38:44 -0500

The four hundred and fifty-seventh note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

The southern tip of Fauquier County, VA, as it was defined in 1759, was only
a few miles from Fort Germanna. From the Fort, cross the Rapidan River, then
cross the narrow neck of land between it and the North Fork of the
Rappahannock, known later as Hedgman's River, and then, upon crossing
Hedgman's, one is in Fauquier. The total distance is about five miles and
the direction from the Fort is about due north.

The last note gave some of the settlers in this general region during the
1710's. We should compare the settlement here with the comment of the
Alexander Spotswood that the Germans at Fort Germanna were fifteen (?) miles
beyond the usual course of the rangers. Generally, the extent of
civilization at this time is taken as the area patrolled by the rangers. So
either southern "Fauquier" wasn't patrolled or wasn't settled in 1714. More
likely, it was the former and it was an unpatrolled area.

This raises the more general question of how to tell when an area was first
settled. Generally, on the frontier, the first "foreign" people to enter are
the traders who, in many cases, work and live with the native populations.
Usually, the traders do not count as the first settlers. Next, come the
people who expect to build their homes and till the land. How does one tell
when they arrive? The dates of the land patents and grants are often used
but they can be misleading, especially the larger ones which were of a
speculative nature. The owners of these often live somewhere else and never
intend to live on the land. These tracts are considered as investments for
the future. In the last note, it appears that Brent Town was in this
category and it is not clear whether any development took place. The smaller
tracts, in the range of family sized farms of a few hundred acres, are often
considered to be more indicative of development.

Thus, in 1718 when the First Colony Germans purchased their tract in
Fauquier (Stafford at the time), there were already a few Europeans living
in Fauquier. I have been guilty of saying that the Germans were the first in
Fauquier but they were not. There were several things that could be said
about the Germans. Their new home on Licking Run was certainly a frontier
community. Probably there were no Europeans to the north or west of them.
The church and the school they established shortly after moving were
probably the first of these to be established in Fauquier County. And their
neighbors were not numerous. Probably weeks went by without any need to
speak a language other than German.

Our Germanna colonists, both the First and Second Colonies, were pioneers
for moving into regions of almost no development. In both cases, their
presence strongly encouraged English settlers and speculators.

On the occasion of the Bicentennial of Fauquier County, the committee to
mark the occasion sponsored a book, "Fauquier County, Virginia 1759-1957." I
have been using some material from this book.

John Blankenbaker, PO Box 120, Chadds Ford, PA 19317
Beyond Germanna, A Newsletter/Journal of Germanna Information
http://www.germanna.com/
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/germhist.html
http://www.inficad.com/~genele

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