>What is Germanna, or the Germanna colonies, mentioned in >recent posts? Well, I'll try to explain a bit. I've got my head full of stuff over the past 6 months or so, so don't yell at me if I get this wrong, okay? I'm doing it from memory. :) First, if you do a web search on 'Germanna colonies', you'll find quite a bit of information on them. There is a man named John Blankenbaker (I think) who has written hundreds of short articles about the history of the colonies. Long ago, in the mid- to late-1600's or early 1700's, a group of Germans were supposed to make the trip from Germany to the British Colonies. Somehow (due to mismanagement or downright fraud) they got stuck in England. A man ended up paying for these families to make the trip. In exchange, they were to work for him in his business ventures in the Colonies (mines??? I can't quite remember.) After a decade or two, he brought another group of Germans over. They all were basically from the same area in Germany (from around Stuttgart, I think) and they all lived in the same area in Virginia. There was lots of intermarrying going on so the families are pretty well intertwined. (My 6th great grandfather married a woman from a Germanna family, as did my 5th great grandfather.) In the mid-1700's, the exodus seemed to start with the families spreading out. There were a few of the families whose children headed up to Pennyslvania, in the Ten-Mile Creek area that I men- tioned before. I'm not sure what else you would want to know, but if you do a web search, you should find J. Blankenbaker's site and he has tons of information there. I'm also away from home right now and don't have a lot o f information with me. HTH Tracey