GERMANNA_COLONIES-L Archives

From: John Blankenbaker <>
Subject: [GERMANNA] (1134)Germanna Colonies, History of
Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 05:42:44 -0400

The eleven hundred and thirty-fourth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies

Another large family, also from Trupbach, was the Otterbachs. There is no
documentary evidence in Virginia that this family did, in fact, make the
trip. But there is excellent circumstantial evidence that this is the case
and we might review some of the principal points.

The family disappears from the church and civil records in Germany about
1714. In the book, “Ortgeschichte Trupbach” by Tröps and Bohn, the house
Welmes was inhabited by Hermannus Otterbach in 1707. They say about the
family that (it) “ausgewandert nach Virginia USA.” The house was taken over
(in 1712) by Johann Jacob Schneider who had married Maria Cath. Heide.
Again, as in the last note, I do not understand why they use the date 1712.

The names of the daughters in the family seem to appear as wives in
Virginia. The family was related to some of the people who did go to
Virginia. A family(ies) is needed to add to the known Virginia immigrants
to come to the right count. The Otterbach family would fulfill that need
correctly.

Hermann Otterbach was a “Fuhrleute” which is a wagoner or a person who
carted goods (or people?) from one location to another. As such, he would
have been very sensitive to the economic conditions. If economic life were
depressed, his work would be reduced. (In the emigrating group, there was
another man who was the son of a Fuhrman and that was John Hofmann.)

Hermann Otterbach had married Elisabeth Heimbach and they had these
children: John Philip (21), John (11), Elizabeth (24), Alice Catherine
(16), Mary Catherine (14), Anna Catherine (8). It is necessary to say that
the father and the two sons died before the move to Germantown in Virginia
(from Germanna) because no land was distributed to a male
Otterbach/Utterback at Germantown. This is the weakest point in the
“Utterback argument” as it requires the death of three individuals.

Again, much like the Fischbachs, it would seem that the parents were
motivated by finding a better life for the sons and daughters. It was a
major undertaking for eight people to uproot their life in Trupbach and to
go to America. One wonders if the prospects in and around Trupbach for
finding husbands for the daughters and jobs for the sons were poor. Philip
was old enough to be looking for a job and a wife. Elizabeth was old enough
to be thinking about marriage.

On the German photo page, look at the drawing of the village of Trupbach
and locate the Chapel School in the center. You can identify the school by
the picture of it on the photo page also. In the drawing, the first
building directly or straight to the right of the Chapel School should be
the Otterbach home. In 1713, the school was not there as it was built in 1750.

John Blankenbaker
http://www.germanna.com/
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~george/johnsgermnotes/germhis1.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~genelea/gerhist/index.html

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