This is the SIXTIETH page of John BLANKENBAKER's series of Short Notes on GERMANNA History, which were originally posted to the GERMANNA_COLONIES Discussion List. Each page contains 25 Notes.
GERMANNA History Notes Page 60 |
Nr. 1476:
A correspondent (on the GERMANNA COLONIES Mailing List at Rootsweb) writes today, "For more than 200 years my family has kept an oral tradition, backed up by no known documentation, of a family member who was shipwrecked off the east coast in 1738." The writer added there were other traditions and stories which he was beginning to doubt. He thought that perhaps they were all made up out of whole cloth.
In this particular case, perhaps at least a part of the oral tradition is correct. How many oral traditions of more than 200 years duration do you know that turn out to be true? There aren't many which are as specific as this one. In this case, the story could be correct.
The writer is Meredith Funderburk and he has just been reading about the ship Oliver. This would very well fit his family traditions. The story of the Oliver was told by Klaus Wust in Beyond Germanna a few years ago.
The voyage of the Oliver has its origins in a group of Swiss who had been recruited by William Byrd to occupy a tract of land that he wanted to obtain. The organization in Switzerland which had done the recruiting chartered the Oliver. The Swiss left Canton Basel in March of 1738 for Rotterdam. At about the same time, a group of 53 men, women, and children left Freudenberg from the Siegen area. In Rotterdam, the two groups were joined, and their fate became the same as the fate of the Oliver. Both the Swiss and the Freudenberg people wanted to go to Virginia. To fill up the Oliver, some Palatine redemptioners who wanted to go to Pennsylvania were added to it.
On June 22, five ships operated by the Hope firm, left Rotterdam for ports in England. The captains of the Winter Galley and the Queen Elizabeth headed for Deal. The Thistle, the Glasglow, and the Oliver headed for Cowes (on the Isle of Wight). It took some of these ships three to five weeks to get to the English ports. The captain of the Oliver felt that his ship was overloaded and he returned to Holland, where he resigned. The owners installed a new captain and sent the ship out again in early July. This time the Oliver made it quickly to Cowes, where it spent six weeks in preparing for the crossing. After setting out from Cowes, the Thistle and the Oliver found heavy seas that forced them into the harbor at Plymouth.
The Oliver did not leave Plymouth until the start of September. A ship that met the Oliver on the high seas brought in the report that the ship had lost its Captain, Mate, and 50 or 60 passengers, many of whom were children. They were also said to be short of provisions. By the start of winter, no news had been received in America of the ship and it was feared the Oliver had been lost.
Reports from two passengers on the Oliver have been preserved, but it would be hard to tell that they pertained to the same ship. One telling of the trip says that the first six weeks were satisfactory, but that during the next ten weeks they were tormented by storms and contrary winds. They lost the mast of the ship and the Captain died. Because of the length of time that they were at sea, the food and water had been totally exhausted.
Early in January, the Oliver appeared off the coast of Virginia. It has been more than six months since the passengers had boarded in Rotterdam. At this point they had been without food and water for several days. When the ship was within two hours of Hampton at the mouth of the James River, the passengers grew impatient. They insisted, with a reinforcement by arms, that the Captain anchor and obtain some provisions. A party went ashore and the majority of the crew and passengers remained on the ship.
While the party was ashore, violent winds arose and the ship dragged its anchor until the ship's bottom scraped on the sea floor. Leaks followed and the ship filled with water. Forty to fifty persons were trapped and drowned between the decks. Two ships that lay near the Oliver provided assistance and put many people ashore. The weather was so cold that some people froze to death. An article in the Virginia Gazette newspaper mentioned that there were ninety survivors.
The group that went ashore to find provisions landed on an uninhabited island and they found nothing that would be of any help. When the winds came up, they were trapped on the land and could not take their boat out to the floundering ship. To survive the cold, they built a large bonfire. About two out of three of the passengers that boarded the Oliver in Rotterdam did not survive the trip.
The tradition that Meredith Funderburk relates says that the source of his family was Hans Devauld Vonderburg, who was 14 years old when he sailed. Coming with him was his father and perhaps six brothers and two sisters. Devauld is the only one of the family who survived. It is remembered that three ships left together. Devauld's ship was wrecked off the coast of America, where he was picked up by another ship carrying Germans. He became an indentured servant. Later he met uncles and cousins here who had arrived in Pennsylvania on the ship Thistle in 1738.
The surprising thing about this story is the oral tradition was correct about many of it elements. There is so much that jibes with known historical facts that it must be concluded that the tradition did arise validly and has been preserved essentially correctly. So many traditions get embellished with the passage of time that the source events, if they were true to start with, are lost.
Meredith admits that his faith in the tradition had been weakened, but discovering the story of the Oliver has restored his beliefs.
I have mentioned William Byrd (II) in connection with the ship Oliver. His involvement came about in the following way.
He obtained a patent in 1735 for 100,000 acres on the Dan River in Virginia, on the condition that he settle at least one family for every 1,000 acres within two years. Securing 100 families was not easy, but Byrd felt that his contacts with John Ochs, a Swiss promoter, would be fruitful. The first attempt to induce settlers to come to Virginia in 1736 was unsuccessful. Then Byrd turned to the �Heivetische Societ�t�1 in Berne. To promote the project in Switzerland, they published a booklet in 1737 entitled �Neu-gefundenes Eden� (New Found Eden), which described the land in Virginia. Like much promotional material, the booklet did not adhere strictly to the truth.
The Virginia agent of the Helvetian Society, Dr. Samuel Tschiffeli, had agreed to buy a large part of the Byrd property in his own name. Byrd used this to show the Virginia authorities that his partners were serious, and, thereby, he obtained an extension of time. Recruiting by the Helvetian Society was successful and the Society chartered a ship, the Oliver, to bring the colonists to Virginia. It was the only ship in the 1738 shipping season which was bringing emigrants from Europe to Virginia. The contingent from Freudenberg was taken on, in addition to the Switzers, even though Captain Walker felt that the ship could not carry that many passengers. Of the three hundred people who started the trip, fewer than one hundred survived the voyage. The worst part of the voyage, though it was only a small part of the whole ill-fated attempt, was the grounding and the sinking of the ship off the mouth of the James River in Virginia, after four months on the high seas. Both the Swiss and the Freudenberg emigrants were caught in the disaster. Of the eighteen family units from Freudenberg, only six are known to have any survivors.
Apparently, in addition to the Switzers and the Freudenberg people, some other Palatines were taken on board, even though these added passengers wanted to go to Pennsylvania. This was the case with the Vonderberg family, who had only one survivor.
There is a recorded story of one survivor who had an experience, much the same as Hans Devauld Vonderberg�s story, which was preserved through oral tradition. The sole survivor in the diary account of his own family was Samuel Suther. The Suther family of twelve people left their home on March 28, 1738. The only survivor was the boy Samuel. The father and two daughters died on the shores of England, spared the misery which was to come.
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they encountered thirteen storms, taking from the beginning of September to the beginning of January to reach the shore of Virginia.
The owners of the ship Oliver requested one of the passengers to give testimony concerning whether there had been any failure by the owners or the crew in the care of the passengers on the Oliver. The man who did testify, Carlo Toriana, must have been paid well. He described the Oliver as a good and spacious ship (actually it was a coaster freighter, not a transatlantic ship). He notes that they left Holland early in July, without mentioning that the ship had left earlier but the captain turned around and went back, because he thought the ship was overloaded.
He says that after leaving Plymouth they sailed happily for six weeks (the passengers had been on board for more than two months when they left Plymouth and I doubt they were happy). Carlo goes on to say that after four months from Plymouth they sighted Virginia. He claims the wind had died at the arrival so the captain had taken the opportunity to seek supplies, even though there was food still left for everyone. With a little wind they advanced to within two leagues of the coast.
After the anchor was set, several Palatines mutinied against the captain and he was forced to use the longboat again taking him, 2 sailors, and 26 passengers ashore. A storm arose while the party was ashore and the captain tried to go back to the ship but couldn't. It was so cold that some of the shore party, wet from the attempt to reach the ship, died. A fire was lit and the party spent the night in the woods. In the morning they found that the ship had sunk with the stern sticking out of the water. A few people were clinging to it. Some of these people were saved by another ship.
Carlo said that not more than sixty people of those who had embarked remained alive. Over the next two weeks much effort was spent on recovering personal effects and rigging from the ship.
All of the passengers were well fed and well treated and provisions were never lacking was the claim of Carlo. He completely absolved the owners of the ship of negligence or of being responsible for what happened in any way.
Klaus Wust, in preparing his material for the article in Beyond Germanna used his research, which he had reported in the Newsletter of the Swiss American Historical Society, Vol. XX, No. 2. The Toriano statement was found by Klaus as a French document in Rotterdam, in the Notorial Acts, August 4, 1739. The statement of Samuel Suther was from the Reformed Church Messenger of May 10, 1843, as a part of the obituary notice for David Suther, son of Samuel, and was based on an account in a diary.
The Pennsylvania Chapter of Palatines to America will be holding a meeting in New Holland today. I will be going and I hope I will learn something to report here.
On occasions, the Palatines to America chapter meetings will have only one speaker. That was the case last Saturday when the speaker was Dr. Helmut Schmahl, of the Department of History at the University of Mainz. Dr. Schmahl was in the US doing some work at the University of Wisconsin. His personal experience includes twenty years of genealogical research, especially with the lesser known sources of information.
One of Dr. Schmahl's presentations included his list of the ten most important things to remember about doing research in family history in Germany. I think that I violate nothing by repeating some of them for you. You will not have the interesting examples and humor that he added to his comments.
Dr. Schmahl urges you to "Put Some Flesh on the Bones of Your Ancestors. (6)" There are many sources of records that might be able to do this. It will take some serious digging to do this though. He cited an example of an estate inventory record which read in translation:
Upon request of the heirs an inventory of the estate of the deceased was made today. It will be soon be sold in a public auction and the profits will be distributed among the three branches.
That was the sixth item on Dr. Schmahl�s list. The difficulty for Americans is that they generally lack an ability to read the records which contain information of this type. And an increasing number of Germans, already a large percentage, cannot read the old script either. It may pay you to "Learn the Old Script" (7), especially if you have many German ancestors.
I skip now to the eighth item on Dr. Schmahl�s list which is, �Be Sure to Visit the Cemetery of Your Ancestor�s Hometown.� It has been mentioned here that you will learn nothing from the tombstones. So why visit the cemetery? You will always find people there tending the flower plots. They are often interested in history and families. Don�t expect that one of them will know anything about your family, but they may know someone who knows someone, who does know something about your family. "Start Networking. (9)" Many people are interested in American genealogy and want to know more about what happened to people who immigrated. Be prepared to trade information. Take a written summary of your families. "Surprises are to be expected. Be prepared for cultural differences. (10)" Things are done differently in Germany.
Jim Albin loaned me a small book which doesn't even have a date of printing in it. I would guess it is about 1900. The title is �History of Virginia� and it was intended for young people. I am using Chapter XII, �From Bacon's Rebellion to the French and Indian War�, for this note. Headings for a series of one paragraph topics are:
When you study the background of this trip in some detail, you realize that the primary purpose of the trip was to scout for land to take up. After the trip, he followed through with a claim on 40,000 acres of land that stretched almost from Germanna to beyond the present day Culpeper Court House.
The author of the history leaves you with the impression that Spotswood was the first white man in the Shenandoah Valley. The author ignores the adventurers who had previously visited and drawn maps, which were in the records in London.
The claim about the golden horseshoes is dubious. It is true that Hugh Jones said something to this effect, but then he repeated a lot of things which he learned by hearsay and not by personal investigation. He does sometimes get a little mixed up in what he writes. It might be asked, "Who could bestow the title of Knight?" That was a Royal prerogative, which even Lt. Governors could not do.
In short, the author of the history picked up some activities, the very existence of which are even dubious. Then, he used these to write a history of Spotswood, which becomes one-fifth of a 75 year history of Virginia.
Artisan and Merchant Guilds
Originally the Guilds were voluntary associations which had been formed for religious, social, and commercial purposes. People with similar interests in a craft, trade, business, or profession banded together for mutual aid and protection. The highest level of development was in the Teutonic1 nations during the Middle Ages. The German Guilds are usually divided into two groups, the merchant Guilds and the artisan, or craft, Guilds.
The first known German Guild was the Watermen of Worms, who received a Charter in 1106. In 1112, the Shoemakers of W�rzburg in northern Bavaria received a Charter. The Weavers of Cologne obtained a Charter in 1149. The Shoemakers of Magdeburg received their Charter in 1158. In the next century, the German craft Guilds became numerous and important. Some of the terms (in English) used to describe them include Guild, corporation, company, partnership, brotherhood, and society. But one should be careful about a comparison to what we think of when we hear these words.
One of the prominent Guilds in Germany includes the people connected with the production of linen and wool. In the year 1466, there were more than 700 Master Weavers in Augsburg. The Tanners and the Furriers Guild included the Shoemakers, the Tailors, the Glove-Makers, and the Stocking Knitters. There was a distinction in the shoemakers between those who made new shoes, the cobblers, and the slipper makers. Another prominent group was the Metalworkers Guild, which had many subdivisions. These included the Farriers, Knife-Makers, Locksmiths, Chain-Forgers, Nail-Makers, and the Armorers. Specialization was invoked in the latter group, Armorers, which was divided into Helmet-Makers, Escutcheon4-Makers, Harness-Makers, Harness-Polishers, to give broader categories. Sometimes the division was extended to each piece of armor. The resulting product, a suit of armor, sometimes showed exquisite detailed workmanship.
The mining trades were represented from an early date in Saxony and Bohemia.
These mining-related labor organizations were dedicated to helping the laborer, elevating his position, and maintaining fair relations between the employers and the employees. The Guilds exerted themselves to obtain hygienic conditions in the mines, ventilation of the pits, precautions against accidents, bathing houses, a reasonable working day, fair prices for the necessities of life, reasonable wages, and provisions for the care of the sick and disabled.
These comments are taken from �German Professions of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries�, Vol. 2, by Prof. Robert Rabe.
In the threefold division of Guild members, the Journeyman was aptly named because he moved around working for different Masters. There was a prescribed way that he identified himself when he applied for work with a new Master. Among the ways used to identify himself as a Journeyman in the Guild, he had a letter from his former Master when he left his Apprenticeship, and he was taught a password and given the society�s badge.
If the Journeyman was taken on, he often lived and worked in the house of the Master. This brought the Journeyman into close contact with others who might be in the same position as himself, and who, from their experience, could help and protect him. It often brought him into close contact with the Master�s family. (A daughter of a Master should expect to have many suitors.) The Master was obligated to see that the Apprentices and Journeymen under his supervision attended church regularly.
A Journeyman was not to marry. Doing so would result in a loss of his status. The time that a man had to spend as a Journeyman could run to years. Henry Hofmann of Germanna seems to have been about 28 before he became a Master (of Carpentry). Jacob Richter of Germanna was about 38 before he was admitted to the Guild of Tool Makers. When the economic conditions were poor and the supply of Masters was more than adequate to meet the needs of the craft, there was a reluctance to admit new members.
So far the discussion has been about the craft Guilds. There existed also the merchant Guilds, which shared many of the same goals as the craft Guilds. They differed in their concept of the nature of trade. The craft Guilds sought to even out the opportunities for all members. No one Master was to gain the upper hand.
The merchant Guilds sought to secure commercial advantages for their members, even to the gaining of the monopoly of a particular trade or product. Not all merchants were members of a Guild, but such non-Guild merchants were permitted only to sell at wholesale. They were subject to restrictions which did not apply to members. For example, nonmembers were forced to pay special dues to the feudal lord or to the city, but the Guild members paid, as a Guild, not individually. The Guild members were free from municipal taxes.
The German merchant Guilds (Hansa) became very powerful. The members combined together as a larger association and often obtained a monopoly, even in foreign countries. In London, the merchants from Cologne, Hamberg, L�beck, and other cities formed an association of German merchants with special rights.
The Guild system was compulsory with the force of law. For example, the locksmiths in Siegen once sued one of the Rectors for working on locks (he was a toolmaker) without being a member of the Locksmith's Guild. The Guilds regulated trade under the supervision of the civil authorities.
During the Middle Ages, the Guilds did little damage to anyone. By 1600, the Guilds had developed into narrowly exclusive societies, especially with respect to the admission of new members. They became benefit societies for a small number of Masters and their associates. After 1600, the abuses prevalent in the Guilds became known to the Imperial Government. Some modest reforms were made. In the course of the nineteenth century, the Guilds were abolished in the German lands.
The Guild Master was a small-scale proprietor who owned the raw material and the tools, who made a useful product, and who sold the product for a profit. His labor supply consisted of Apprentices and Journeymen. The Apprentices, beginners at the craft, learned the trade under the direction of a Master. They received board and room with the Master and little in the way of pay.
When an Apprentice completed his training, he became a Journeyman and was paid a fixed wage for his labor. The Journeyman would hope to become a Master someday; however, the Masters were not always anxious to increase the number of Masters because that would be increased competition for them. So, often the Masters made it very difficult for Journeymen to advance to the Master level.
To engage an Apprentice, the Master had to obtain the approval of the officers of the Guild as to the soundness of the Apprentice's character. If approved, the Master became responsible for the boy's professional and moral education. The Apprentice might start at a very young age, perhaps in his early teens. Perhaps his first assignment would be to sweep the floor. His second assignment could be to sweep the floor. Perhaps, he would even have to do it a third time. This was a way of developing discipline and character. Eventually, the Apprentice would be capable of doing work on his own.
To make his training as complete as possible, and to be exposed to a maximum number of techniques and methods, the Apprentice would then serve a time as a Journeyman, where he would travel around and work for several different Masters. This did have the advantage of increasing the skill of the Journeyman, and it did give the Masters a supply of cheaper labor.
The first step in becoming a Journeyman was to obtain letters of testimony from his Master that he had completed his time of Apprenticeship in an orderly and structured fashion.
When the Apprentice obtained his training papers, which showed that he had completed his time of Apprenticeship, he was given a sendoff, with clothes, money, and food by his initial Master. The Journeyman was now on his own. In the language of the Guilds, he was "tramping", and his life was not far from that of a tramp. When he called at village or city, he might find work. If so, he could stay there a while and build up a little cash reserve. If he did not find work, he would have to go on to another place. The Journeyman could spend several years in his travels and might see a lot of Germany and perhaps foreign countries. His papers were his passport, and, even though he was far from home, he could show that he had a legitimate reason for being there.
Dr. Schmahl related that one Journeyman left the south and found his way to Hamburg. With his savings he purchased a ticket to America. Normally, the authorities looked with suspicion on anyone who was away from home without a passport but the Journeyman's papers would carry the day. Usually emigrants had to pay an exit fee from their native principality.
Upon arriving at a city, with the intention of finding work, the Journeyman would report to the "Herberge"1, the guesthouse or inn of his trade. If the locality were small, then the Journeyman might report to the gatehouse. A person from the gatehouse would go to a Master of the craft, if one existed in the village, to see if he needed a Journeyman. At the guesthouse (Herberge), the Journeyman would announce himself with the traditional greeting of his trade. This greeting was an informal claim that the newcomer was indeed a member of the craft.
If he found work, he might stay until the Master's work was caught up. Or, he might get the urge to wander on. If no work was to be had, the Master was supposed to give the lad some money from the funds of the Guild.
Each Guild had, besides the formal letters of identity, secret rituals and words which served to identify the Journeymen. There were passed on orally to the Apprentices who were approaching their departure from their Master. It must also be remembered that not all Journeymen could read and write.
The Apprentice learned rules and useful information by memorizing and reciting proverbs which were often poetic in nature and structure.
Entry into a Guild, even at the Apprentice level, was not easy. It helped to have a father who was already a Guild member. Some boys whose fathers were employed in specific ways would not be eligible for a Guild. These were forbidden occupations. One reform by the Imperial Council in 1731 abolished these restrictions, at least formally. The Guilds were very much opposed to these new rules.
The recent notes about the Guild system were inspired by Robert Rabe, a Professor of German at Chapman University. He has published two volumes of German Professions of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. He sells these and contact with him can be made at 14466 Sunrise Drive NE, Bainbridge, WA 98110.
In the last issue of German Life, a magazine, there is an article by Nicholas Corder about a group of German miners who led the way in England in developing an industrial society. The area in England in which they practiced their calling was the Lake District. The time was the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The more exact locality was Keswick. Copper was badly needed, but England lacked the expertise to mine the mineral deep underground. Besides a national need for copper, the crown earned a percentage of the minerals that were mined. Nine-tenths of the gold and silver were taken by the Crown, and lessor amounts for the other metals.
England, especially as led by the Crown, decided to turn to German miners from Franconia in Germany. These people were considered to be the best miners in the world. The Society of Mines Royal was founded as a means of enticing German experts to take over the management of mining throughout the kingdom. A group of miners from Augsburg, under the leadership of Daniel H�chstetter, arrived in the valleys around Keswick in June 1564. They very quickly found rich veins of copper. They brought with them technologies that were unknown to the Brits.
The Germans applied names they knew to the countryside, to the mines, and all aspects of the enterprise. Because the Germans kept to themselves, used their own language, and enjoyed special privileges, friction broke out between the Brits and the Germans. The local girls were not put off by the foreign language. They noted the Germans earned more. Feelings ran strongly and one German was killed.
The Germans bought an island in a lake on which to make their homes. Here they built houses, a brewery, a bake house, a pigeon cote, and a windmill. They planted a garden and orchard also. But the island was small and they couldn�t keep animals. Without them, they lacked manure for the garden and orchard. They solved this by buying manure from a nearby estate. They had to move it to the island in the winter when the lake was frozen.
There were several mines. At the largest, the facilities included the workshops, assay chambers, smelting houses, smithies, and bathhouses. It was believed to be the largest pithead in England and possibly in Europe.
There were lots of problems for the German miners at Keswick. They generally had the support of the crown, but not of the local landowners, who felt their property was being stolen. For example, Thomas Perry, the Duke of Northumberland, stopped the German miners from removing ore from the Goldscope Mine in Newlands on the basis that he owned the land and therefore the minerals. He said the workmen were trespassing.
Queen Elizabeth ordered the miners to continue their work. Percy refused to cooperate. A trial ensued to settle the matter, during which most of the prominent chemists and miners in England were either witnesses or members of the jury. Surprise of surprises!, Queen Elizabeth won the lawsuit. The minerals were deemed to be Crown property. (A few years later, Percy took part in the Rebellion of the North and lost everything, including his life.)
The Society of Mines Royal provided the miners and their families with tools, candles, materials, lodgings, clothes, food, and drink, which they offset against the men�s earnings. By the early 1600's, the enterprise was not profitable. The choicest ores had been taken and expenses had been heavy.
Because of the money which flowed into the district, everyone prospered, English and Germans alike. The distrust and hatred between the groups evaporated as the two nationalities started marrying. Many people in modern day Cumbria can find a few German ancestors. Even some of the names have a German flavor. In the first twenty years, the parish records show there were forty marriages between German men and English women. Of the descendants of H�chstetter family, one became Lord Mayor of London and another Dean of Carlisle.
The deep mining required special technologies. Multiple vertical shafts were sunk. One of these was to pump air underground for the miners. Another shaft was the means by which the spent air in the mine was exhausted. The air that was pumped underground had to be routed to the working face where the miners were before it was allowed to vent outward. Another shaft was for the purpose of pumping water from the mine. The technology of the Germans allowed the labor for these efforts to be done by horses. Some walked in circles with cogged wheels to translate their motion into driving the bellows. Others labored on treadmills. The water pump was operated by 32 horses on a four hours on, four hours off basis.
At Jamestown in Virginia, there were mineral men from Germany (also glass blowers). Some people have asked, �Why Germans?� The answer seems to be that the Germans were held in high regard for their skills. If I remember correctly, these Germans found iron ore near the future site of Richmond. This led to the construction of an iron smelting furnace there about 1622 which was destroyed by the Indians.
At Keswick in the Lake Country, Thomas Perry, Duke of Northumberland, and Elizabeth, the Queen of England, were in an argument in the late 1500s concerning who owned the mineral rights. Apparently the fact was not well established in law, and the case went to trial, where Queen Elizabeth, on behalf of the Crown, won. I do not have the details, but apparently the crown owned 100% of the minerals. There was no mention of a royalty payment, even to the land owner.
Let us fast forward more than a hundred years to Virginia, where Lt. Gov. Spotswood had become interested in silver and gold. He purchased, in May of 1713, a one-quarter interest in a tract which was thought to contain silver. Spotswood read the laws to see who owned the silver should it be found. What he found was that the division between the discoverer (presumably the land owner) and the crown was not defined. Whether he was acquainted with the case of The Crown vs. Perry is unknown, but he came to the decision that no work was to be done on the purported silver mine until the question was settled. He was afraid that if silver were discovered, the Crown might claim it all.
Starting in 1713, about the time he paid his money for his part of the silver mine, Spotswood starting writing letters to Col. Nathaniel Blakiston, in London, who was the agent for Virginia. Spotswood explained the situation and asked him to have this question settled. Before long, the Board of Trade, Lord Orkney (the nominal Governor of Virginia), and even Queen Anne, were involved. Whether the Queen actually heard the details is not clear, but at least a petition was sent to the Queen to have the question settled.
Spotswood made it clear that the question, in his mind, was not academic but real, as he believed that lands with silver had been discovered. The petition to the Queen makes this clear. So Blakiston became acquainted with the fact that Spotswood had a serious interest in a silver mine.
Shortly thereafter, a group of miners who had been recruited in Germany from near Siegen appeared in London. They did NOT come at the invitation of Spotswood. They came because they thought they were going to mine silver for George Ritter and Company, whose agent in America was Christoph Graffenried, and in Germany was Johann Justus Albrecht. But once they were in London, they found out that this operation was bankrupt and could not finance the venture.
At the same time that the miners were in London, Graffenried appeared there also on his way back to Switzerland. After listening to the plight of the Germans, he recommended that they go home.
The German "miners" who were stranded in London appear to have told Graffenried that, having come to London, they were going to go on to America. They were even willing to work for someone in America to help pay for the trip. The arrangement that was worked out was that the Germans put up as much money as they could spare. They were short about 150 pounds and by the rates generally in existence this seemed to work out to be four years of service.
Graffenried had the names of several people that he should talk to (some probably furnished by Spotswood) and thereby he came into contact with Col. Blakiston, who lent a receptive ear. Spotswood had been very excited about his silver mine and, should the royalty question be settled, he would need miners. Normally, the sequence would be to solve the royalty problem and then look for miners. But Blakiston was willing to take a gamble. It was not his money; it would be Spotswood's. And so a deal was cut. Spotswood would pay the 150 pounds and the Germans would work for him for four years. Some merchants in London would advance the money to the ship's captain and Spotswood would pay the ship captain who would reimburse the London merchants. Spotswood was not a party to the agreement in advance of its being executed. Blakiston and Graffenried both wrote to Spotswood telling him what his obligations were.
Blakiston's letter to Spotswood got to him before the Germans did. When the Germans arrived in Virginia, Spotswood was aware that they were now his employees. The silver mine was beyond civilization by about fifteen miles. This was also a part of the frontier where there was no protection from the Indians. A couple of years before this time, Spotswood had already formulated a plan to settle Germans on the frontier, between the Indians and the English. This is the plan he put into effect and won the support of the Council for the Colony to finance it. He put it forth as a low-cost plan to protect the English from the Indians. He did not happen to mention that the fort which the Colony built for the Germans was only about four or five miles from his silver mine.
Spotswood had been rather happy about the plan that had been put into execution by Blakiston. He wrote Blakiston that he didn't think Blakiston would do such a thing unless there was reason to believe the royalty question was to be solved soon. Spotswood was now inclined to believe that was the case (based on Blakiston's actions) and at the same time he had the miners that he would be needing.
The Germans were probably informed that their future would involve mining. But they were told by Spotswood there would be no start to the mining until the royalty question was solved. They were told to settle down and start clearing land so they could plant gardens and crops. They also started building roads to the fort.
Not long after the Germans "miners" were settled at Fort Germanna, Queen Anne died. This complicated the settlement of the royalty question. First, a decision had to be made as to whom the next sovereign would be. After King George was selected, he had to become acquainted with the job. For two years no decision was reached on the royalty question. Spotswood had suggested to Blakiston that he try the argument with King George that he would be helping his fellow countrymen if he made a favorable decision to share the minerals with the operators of the mine.
Spotswood, when the Germans had been with him for about two years, wrote that the Germans had done nothing to reimburse him for his expense. But just about this time, Spotswood seems to have decided that he would set the Germans to work on the silver mine. We know from a statement by Albrecht and Holtzclaw that the Germans worked at quarrying and mining from March of 1716 to December of 1718 (both new style dates).
Reading between the lines of John Fontaine's report on the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which started from Germanna, I would gather that the Germans had been working on the silver mine. Since this trip was in August and September of 1716, it would appear that the Germans had been working on the silver mine from March up to then. One of Fontaine's tasks during this trip was to evaluate whether the silver mine would yield anything. His writings are negative on the prospects.
Several years later, Spotswood wrote to Col. Harrison, the Deputy Auditor General, that he set his Germans to looking for iron at about the time the Second Colony came. This would have been late 1717 or early 1718 (by the modern calendar). From the fall of 1716 to the fall of 1717, it is not clear what the Germans were doing. I suspect that they had been exploring the countryside on their own, and probably had found good traces of iron. So when Spotswood said he set his Germans to searching for iron starting about the beginning of 1718, it was probably the case they had been working in this area for perhaps a year, but perhaps informally. This was not full time work as the Germans had to take time to farm.
Also, there was no furnace built up to December 1718, as Spotswood said that he had spent upwards of sixty pounds sterling on the project. The budget for furnaces usually ran into thousands of pounds of money.
In the opening lines I put the word miner into quotation marks. At one time Spotswood wrote that the Germans "could generally be called miners." I have wondered what the effect of the word "generally" is here. I am of the opinion that it weakens the statement. I would be interested in what you think it would mean.
[Since a fellow researcher asked a question about the Beemon/B�hm/B�hme family, I am going to break with my planned topic and see if I can say anything that helps answer the question.]
The Beemon surman was probably derived from B�hm or B�hme. It is not clear when they arrived in the Robinson River Valley, but probably not long before Rev. Franck started his pastorate at the German Lutheran church in 1775. The most prominent member of the family, from the standpoint of the church books certainly, was Daniel B�hme (as he was listed in the baptismal register) and his wife Nancy. They had nine children baptized from 1777 to 1799. Since Rev. Franck was the pastor who got many people going to the church, it might have been the case that there were children before Susanna, who was born in 1777.
The nine children of Daniel and Nancy, that we know from the church books, are:
Two of the Beemon boys went to Boone Co., Kentucky, very soon after the Church there was founded, if not with the original group of people. Two of the men signed the Church Constitution at an early enough date (6 Jan 1806) to be considered charter members. Since this church is loaded with Tanners and Rouses and Criglers, the names that were passed along no doubt were a part of the Lutheran Church in Boone Co. The two Beemon signers were John and Daniel. Assuming this Daniel is from the children above, he was only fifteen years of age.
The first Beemon to appear in the Virginia Church records was Elisabetha Behm in late 1775. Daniel (alone) and Eva (alone) appeared in 1775 at Christmas time. The two women appear until 1778, and their fate is unknown, perhaps marriage. Daniel appears alone up to 1782 (three children were already born, see above). Starting in 1783, Daniel and wife Nancy appear regularly. This probably came about because Nancy was not confirmed, perhaps even not baptized, until the 1782 date. We know something about Nancy�s age, and I have assigned her a birthdate of 1756. There are no Nancys in this time period in the birth register at the Lutheran Church, so I have concluded that Nancy�s family was either not Lutheran, or they moved into the area from some location where it had not been easy to obtain baptism.
Let�s give some of the Beemon children who were baptized at the Hopeful Lutheran Church in Boone Co., Kentucky (Giving the parents first).
John and Peggy Beemon:
Austin and Annie Beemon:
Jordan and Elizabeth Ann Beemon:
Weedon and Elisan Beemon:
I recognize John and Joshua as being two of the people from Madison Co., Virginia, who went with the group to Boone County.
Weedon, b. 1813, was the son of John. Jordan, b. 1816 was also a son of John. Austin, perhaps of an age similar to Weedon and Jordan, is an unknown.
The general conclusion is the Beemons in Boone County are descendants of either John or Joshua Beemon. I can say very little more about the Beemons in Boone County.
Looking again back in Virginia, we can say very little about the parents of Daniel Beemon, or of his wife Nancy (Unknown). The name Boehme is not an unusual name in Germany. (The name B�hm occurs eleven times in the index to Rupp�s �Thirty Thousand Names of Immigrants�.) The closest physical point to Culpeper Co., VA, is the Shenandoah Valley, where there were B�hms.
Let�s look at the baptismal sponsors.
For the children of Daniel and Nancy:
I will not have space to go through all of the children this note so I will make a comment about the baptism of Susanna. It is recorded twice in the Baptismal Register. The first time it was written in the Register, one of the sponsors was Eva Bohm. The second time it was written in the Register, Eva Bohm�s name was omitted. Duplicate entries are not unusual. The first time was in the chronological section, and the second time was in a family section.
I was going to look at the sponsors for the children of Daniel and Nancy Beemon (B�hme):
These make some sense if we take a look at the families of Barbara Yager, the daughter of Adam Yager. Barbara married, first, Peter Clore, and, after he died, she married Philip Chelf. How does this help? First, we assume that the Nancy who married Daniel Beemon was a Chelf, the daughter of Philip Chelf.
Since Barbara Yager Clore had several children before Peter Clore died, namely Adam, Solomon, Moses, Delilah, Elizabeth, and Susanna, we could readily believe that she was in her early 30's. Most men are also married by their early 30's, and probably even have children. We would expect that. It appears to me that a widow (Barbara Yager Clore) married a widower (Philip Chelf), and each of them had children from the previous marriages. Nancy was raised in the same home as the children of Barbara and Peter Clore. It appears she was on good terms with her step-siblings.
Therefore, when Delilah Broyles was a sponsor, this was a stepsister. When John Yager and his wife were sponsors (four times for John, and three times for Mary), this was a step-uncle and a step-aunt by marriage. When Philip Chelf was a sponsor, this was Nancy�s father. Harmon Wayman married Elizabeth Clore, a stepsister of Nancy. The Susanna Yager was either the wife of Nicholas Yager (step-aunt by marriage), or Susanna was a stepsister, more likely the later.
So, Nancy seems clearly to be a daughter of Philip Chelf, which makes Philip an ancestor of those Beemons in Boone Co., Kentucky. Now to find out something about Philip, and that is a good question. He and Barbara did not have their children baptized. And he did not have Nancy baptized and confirmed because Nancy could not take communion with her husband for a few years. So I expect he did not have the typical background of the Robinson River inhabitants. His origins are, to put it bluntly, obscure.
Willis Kemper, in 1899, when he was writing the Genealogy of the Kemper Family, wrote about Lt. Gov. Spotswood, "It was not long until he discovered evidences of iron ore in the districts toward the Blue Ride." The time comparison was with respect to Spotswood's arrival in Virginia, which was about when the days are the longest in 1710. Kemper believed that not only had Spotswood discovered iron by 24 October 1710, but that he had formulated a plan of action to develop it.
Through this misinterpretation of what Spotswood had written, which itself was in error, Kemper came to the conclusion that Spotswood had discovered iron. The error of Spotswood, which is not at all hard to show, was his claim that iron deposits has recently been discovered. Spotswood was still so new in Virginia in October of 1710 that he did not appreciate that iron had been discovered in Virginia before Jamestown. He also did not appreciate that a furnace for the smelting of iron ore had been built in 1622 on the James River. (This was also the site of the "newly discovered iron".)
This deposit of iron was well known to William Byrd, and it was he who made the proposal to Spotswood for the development of the iron. His proposal went beyond the interest of the Colony or even England. He was especially interested because it was on his land. He volunteered to turn his rights in the iron over to the colony if they would pursue a plan of development and give him a job in the enterprise. So in the early meetings with Spotswood, Byrd made the proposal to Spotswood, who in turn wrote about it in a letter to London. It was this letter of Spotswood that Kemper saw, but he failed to understand the background. So he came to the wrong conclusion.
There is not a shred of evidence that Spotswood ever discovered any iron. Though he was aware of iron in Virginia from almost his arrival, it was not a personal interest. It would be several years before he became interested in a personal sense.
Spotswood did not ask Graffenried to recruit iron miners when Graffenried returned to Europe. First, Spotswood had no need for miners, for he had no iron. We know that the Germans were already in London when Graffenried arrived there. So how could he have recruited them from across the ocean? Furthermore, we have Graffenried's own testimony that he advised the Germans to go back to Germany. That would be a strange way of going about the business of recruiting.
I never received any comments on what the phrase, "they could generally be called miners", might mean. Does it mean they were miners? Or does it mean that they have seen a miner at some time in their life?
Before we go into the discussion of what "generally" might mean, I will give the exact quotation from Lt. Gov. Spotswood pertaining to the "miners". Spotswood wrote to the Lord Commissioners of Trade on 21 July 1714, one year after the Germans came:
This is a weak statement which doesn't quite say they are miners. They "look" something like the people who have been employed as Miners in Germany. I agree with the Andreas that Spotswood is using diplomatic language to promote the idea in the heads of his readers that they are miners though he himself knows better. In this particular case the readers are the Lord Commissioners. Spotswood is trying to get them to work on the royalty sharing. By using the testimony of the Germans, he is trying to make the silver mine look real, so it becomes important to make the Lordships think there is an expert opinion.
Let's run through the "miners" individually and see what we find.
Jacob Holzklau was a schoolteacher.
Jacob Richter was admitted in 1711 to the Guild of Steelsmiths and Toolmakers. Now it is true that some of the tools and implements might have been used in the mines, but that does not make Richter a miner.
John Hofmann was only 22 years old when he came. He seems to have been a carpenter in training for he was hired as a carpenter in Virginia. (His brother Henry became a member of the carpenter's guild.) John's brother Wilhelm in his diary shows no inkling that he was employed in a mine.
Philip Fischbach was living at Trupbach in 1713. The history of this village shows that it was primarily an agricultural village with a few craftspeople in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century, extensive mines were developed at Trupbach but in 1713 the closest that the inhabitants generally got to the mines was that they grew wood (oak) used in making charcoal. So I believe there is no evidence as to the occupation of Philip but the history of the village would not suggest that he was a miner.
Continuing from the last note, trying to find hints of what the occupations of the 1714 German men might have been:
Herman Otterbach of Trupbach was a Fuhrmann when his son, Philipp, was christened in 1692. My German to English dictionary says that "Fuhrmann" means �carterer� or �wagoner�. I would take it that this would be a person who transported goods. He might have been carrying oak bark to the tannery, or wood to the place where charcoal was made. This later item would have been the biggest freighting job, for fifty pounds of wood were needed to smelt one pound of iron. B. C. Holtzclaw wanted to make Herman Otterbach into a dealer or middleman of iron products, but I believe this is saying something that is not implied by the word �Fuhrmann�. In any case, there is nothing to suggest that Otterbach was a miner. Also, he lived in a village, Trupbach, which was very agricultural, and not iron oriented.
No occupation is given in the Germanna Records for Jost Kuntze. His brother Christian was a toolmaker and was admitted to the guild as a toolmaker.
No occupation is known for Peter Heite/Hitt.
Also, no occupation is known for Johannes Spielmann.
The occupation of Johann Henrich Weber is unknown. There were two sons, Johannes, of about 20 years of age, and Tillman, who was only 14 when he arrived in Virginia.
Melchior Brumbach, Henrich Martin, and Johannes Kemper were all from M�sen. All were unmarried (no marriage records in Germany known) and none of them have a listed occupation. The grandfather of Johannes Kemper was a smith and his father was a church elder, but this was probably not an occupation but a service to the community.
Originally, Johann Justus Albrecht had been sent in 1710 to Germany to recruit miners. He seems to have some problems in recruiting and perhaps he settled for skilled men of various occupations and/or laborers. In his descriptions to Christopher Graffenried of his work, he described the men as miners to show that he had fulfilled his function. Graffenried accepted this definition and repeated it. This is what Blakiston and Graffenried told Spotswood. Spotswood wanted to convey the same impression to his supervisors, the Lord Commissioners of Trade.
When you look for the evidence that the men were miners, I do not find it. I have asked on this list before if anyone could furnish any evidence that there was one miner among the men and no one has come forth with a suggestion.
When Alexander Spotswood commenced his service in Virginia as Lt. Governor, he reported quite frequently to his supervisors, the Board of Trade and Plantations. He sent them letters on almost a monthly basis. After three or four years though, he tapered off and then did a minimal amount of writing. Much of his writing in this later period was an attempt to answer his critics.
When Hugh Drysdale became Lt. Governor, he wrote a minimum of reports from the very beginning. The difference can be seen in the records of the Board of Trade where his letters do not appear as often as the early Spotswood did.
Whether Drysdale had been sent with any instructions on the subject is not clear, but he was not sympathetic to Spotswood. Once, when Spotswood felt he had been insulted by Larkin Chew, he made the long trip to Williamsburg to file a protest with Drysdale. Spotswood was counting that the bonds of aristocracy and office would win him the governor's support, including the removal of the "common carpenter" as a threat. He failed to get a favorable response from Drysdale.
We know that when the Second Colony members who had been sued by Spotswood appealed to the House of Burgesses, the House turned the case over to the Council, the more intimate advisers to the Governor. Together, they appointed the Kings' Deputy attorney for Spotsylvania County to represent the Germans.
Drysdale had come to Virginia in 1722. Larkin Chew had been elected one of the two Burgesses from the newly formed Spotsylvania County. In his position as a Burgess, Larkin Chew was very critical of Spotswood. And he intended that Drysdale hear the criticism. Drysdale at this very time was struggling with the ambiguous provisions of the law for granting land in the new Colonies. And it seemed to him that Spotswood had violated the terms of the law both in fact and in spirit.
Paula Felder, in her book, "Forgotten Companions", which treats Virginia history at this time period, has only two references to Drysdale in the index.
Prior to Drysdale's appointment, the factions in Virginia had been besieging London with their beefs. It had become a bit tiresome and London was eager to have a quieter time in Virginia.
The one letter of Drysdale's (to the Board of Trade in 1723) that I remember, read:
"It is part of my duty to inform your Lordships of an affair, that is at present the common Theme of peoples Discourses, and employs their thought. Coll Spotswood's Iron workes: he had brought itt to that perfection that he now sells by public auction at Wm:burgh, backs and frames for Chymnies, Potts, doggs, frying, stewing and baking panns. . . "
Hugh Drysdale arrived in Virginia as the new Lt. Governor on 25 September in 1722. He read his commission to the Council on 27 September and dissolved the Assembly with a call for new elections the following spring. There were several questions needing an answer, which he enumerated in his letter to the Board of Trade. It was dated 20 December 1722, so he had waited three months to tell the Board of his arrival and early work. At the Board, his letter was endorsed as, �received 15 February 1722/23, read 13 June 1723.� The pace on both sides of the Atlantic ocean seems to have been leisurely.
Among the things that Drysdale mentioned was that a clarification was desired on the terms of issuing land in the new Counties of Spotsylvania and Brunswick. This question was to haunt Drysdale (and everyone) for a few years. An Act passed in 1720 had revised the methods of paying quit rents, and no affirmation had been received yet from London on this law. (Virginia�s laws were not final until approved in London.) An insurrection plot was discovered among the negro slaves in Virginia, but otherwise the colony was at peace.
The next specific letter from Drysdale to the Board seems to be dated 16 May 1723, five months after his last letter to them. He could report that the General Assembly was sitting. Drysdale enclosed a copy of his address to the Assembly and the reply of the Council to his address. He noted there was a harmony existing at the session of Assembly. Drysdale made special note that Col. Spotswood�s iron works were now able to produce kitchen utensils for sale. Topics covered in his address included the tax on imports, rebellious slaves, reorganization of the militia, and the serious condition in the tobacco trade due to frauds and abuses. This was marked at the Board as, �received 28 July, read 12 November 1723.�
Drysdale�s next letter to the Board was on 29 June 1723. He summarized all of the acts passed by the legislature including raising the import duty on liquor and slaves, the reorganization of the militia, punishment of rebellious slaves, measures for the security of the country in time of danger, improvement in the quality of tobacco, etc. This was received at the Board on 4 September and read 12 November (in the same year that Drysdale wrote the letter).
On 6 August 1723, considering the opinions of the Trade Commissioners and the Treasury Commissioners, it was ordered by the Lords Justice in Council at Whitehall that the Quit Rents and the Purchase Rights (to land in Spotsylvania and Brunswick Counties) be waiver for seven years from 1 May 1721 under certain conditions.
[This was a factor in the Second Colony members deciding to take their land in Spotsylvania County � it was free.]
(As of 12 April 2007, John published the last of his "Germanna Notes"; however, he is going to periodically post to the GERMANNA_COLONIES Mailing List in the form of "Genealogy Comments" on various subjects, not necessarily dealing with Germanna. I'm starting the numbering system anew, starting with Comment Nr. 0001.)
(18 Sep 02)
Nr. 1477:
(19 Sep 02)
Nr. 1478:
(20 Sep 02)
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NOTES by Webmaster
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Nr. 1479:
(21 Sep 02)
Nr. 1480:
Nr. 1481:
(24 Sep 02)
Nr. 1482:
(25 Sep 02)
Nr. 1483:
(26 Sep 02)
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Nr. 1485:
(28 Sep 02)
Nr. 1486:
(30 Sep 02)
Nr. 1487:
(01 Oct 02)
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Nr. 1488:
(02 Oct 02)
Nr. 1489:
(03 Oct 02)
Nr. 1490:
(04 Oct 02)
Nr. 1491:
(05 Oct 02)
Nr. 1492:
(07 Oct 02)
Nr. 1493:
(08 Oct 02)
Nr. 1494:
Joshua Beemon and his wife (unnamed):
(09 Oct 02)
Nr. 1495:
(10 Oct 02)
Nr. 1496:
(11 Oct 02)
Nr. 1497:
Rev. Haeger was a minister.
(11 Oct 02)
Nr. 1498:
(14 Oct 02)
Nr. 1499:
(15 Oct 02)
Nr. 1500:
(16 Oct 02)
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