The six hundred and twenty-sixth note in a series on the Germanna Colonies John Thomas, the son who came as a small boy in 1717, sold land to John Railsback who had married Elizabeth, gave land for love and affections to Jacob Holtzclaw who had married Susanna Thomas, gave land for love and affections to Joseph Holtzclaw who had married Mary Thomas, and gave land for love and affection to Jacob Blankenbaker who had married Barbara Thomas. John Railsback had twice as much land as the other men but he paid something also. >From this set of circumstances, it appears that John Thomas had five parcels of land, all approximately of the same size and was preparing to give these five tracts to his children. In the midst of doing this, one of the tracts became surplus. This extra, or fifth tract, was sold to John Railsback. There is some reason to believe that this fifth tract was to go to a son, Michael, who instead of remaining in Virginia, moved to North Carolina. For the present, let us make Michael the fifth child of John Thomas but with a big question mark. By land deeds, the first wife of John Thomas is said to be Mary ____. If she were the mother of the children, then their children are believed to be: Elizabeth, m. John Railsback, Susanna, m. Jacob Holtzclaw, Mary, m. Joseph Holtzclaw, Barbara, m. Jacob Blankenbaker, Michael, unproven son but some circumstantial evidence supports the idea. There are several items to be noted which may be significant but as of now are unknowns. The two Holtzclaw men were the youngest sons of the 1714 immigrant, Jacob Holtzclaw. John Railsback came from the Siegen area. Since Mary, the wife of John Thomas, is from an unknown family, this might be the reason that there is a strong connection to the Siegen people. There is also another fact to be observed. The eldest son of the 1714 Jacob Holtzclaw, who was John Holtzclaw, married Catherine Russell who was the widow of an unknown Thomas. So the eldest son of Jacob Holtzclaw married a Thomas widow and the two youngest sons of Jacob married Thomas women. Considering that Susanna and Mary Thomas lived in one county and the men, Jacob and Joseph Holtzclaw, lived in another county, one must ask the question, "How did they get together?" In my own ruminations on this question, I have always been impressed by the fact that John Holtzclaw married a Thomas widow. For this reason I conclude, the Holtzclaw and Thomas families were acquainted. When the sons Jacob and Joseph Holtzclaw were looking for wives, they were acquainted with the family of John Thomas even though they lived many miles apart. But if John Holtzclaw married a Thomas widow, who was the Thomas man? [No note tomorrow. The first Saturday of each month is my usual time to lead tours at the Hans Herr House. The weather looks as if it will be a great day, so you all come on out and visit.] 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/johnsgermnotes/germhis1.html http://www.inficad.com/~genelea http://www.pretext.com/mar98/shorts/short3.htm ______________________________