Suzanne, you have my full attention! Being Lederer/Leathers descendant, who is this John and what is his connection to our Germanna associated Lederer? ~don -----Original Message----- From: germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Suzanne Matson Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 12:14 PM To: Germanna Colonies Subject: [GERMANNA] John Lederer early traveler John Lederer, a German physician, undertook three trips through Virginia and North Carolina 1669-1670.  His third trip, in particular, might be of interest to Germanna historians.  It began at the falls of the Rappahannock and proceeded west to the Shenandoah Valley.  It is said that he saw the Appalachians, but from reading his description of the trip I did not get the impression that he actually traveled to the Appalachians.  John Lederer undertook these trips with the permission of Sir William Berkeley, then Governor of Virginia. He wrote his journal in Latin and it was translated into English by Sir William Talbot of Maryland.  Arrangements were made for its publication in 1672 in London.  Did those who traveled in the area in later years read or hear about his travels?  Suzanne Collins Matson

I do not believe there is any connection between John Lederer and the Lederer/Leathers of the Germanna Colonies. John john.blankenbaker@comcast.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Johnson" <voodoo@wdemail.com> To: "germanna colonies" <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 1:42:19 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] John Lederer early traveler Suzanne, you have my full attention! Being Lederer/Leathers descendant, who is this John and what is his connection to our Germanna associated Lederer? ~don

Thanks John! (At that date, he certainly had an anglicized proper name!) ~don -----Original Message----- From: germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:germanna_colonies-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of john.blankenbaker@comcast.net Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 12:46 PM To: germanna colonies Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] John Lederer early traveler I do not believe there is any connection between John Lederer and the Lederer/Leathers of the Germanna Colonies. John john.blankenbaker@comcast.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don Johnson" <voodoo@wdemail.com> To: "germanna colonies" <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 1:42:19 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] John Lederer early traveler Suzanne, you have my full attention! Being Lederer/Leathers descendant, who is this John and what is his connection to our Germanna associated Lederer? ~don <snip>

Don, Like John Blankenbaker, I don't know of any connection to your Lederers/Leathers.  He is referred to as John in the English translation made by Sir William Talbot and thus is generally indexed as John Lederer in the various archives/libraries in the USA.  I have not seen the original Latin document so do not know how it is titled.  Although I suspect strongly that he was not called "John".  Although he was German, he wrote the document in Latin and it was translated from Latin directly to English.  I don't know if there was a German translation or not.  There are some brief biographies about him on the internet.  The Virginia Historical Society has some documents that relate to him. My reason for mentioning him is to illustrate that there were people traveling in the Germanna area long before the 1714 colonists and Lt. Governor Spotswood ever arrived in the Virginia colony.  The following is the English transation and is available at: http://rla.unc.edu/Archives/accounts/Lederer/LedererText.html Suzanne Collins Matson   ________________________________ From: Don Johnson <voodoo@wdemail.com> To: germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com Sent: Friday, January 23, 2009 1:56:10 PM Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] John Lederer early traveler Thanks John!  (At that date, he certainly had an anglicized proper name!) ~don