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The Second Colony Story

They wanted a better life. In July, 1717, 25 or more German families left their homes in southwest Germany to travel down the Rhine to Rotterdam, where they found a ship to London. In London, they arranged to travel with other Germans to Pennsylvania. But the journey did not turn out the way they planned….
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Second Colony Family Names

Were your German ancestors among the brave band of Virginia colonists who lived on the very edge of civilization in the early part of the 18th century?
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Hebron Lutheran Church

Isolated and alone in Anglican colonial Virginia, the Second Colony families, bound together by their common travails, in 1740 built a Lutheran Church in the wilderness. The congregation later played an important role in the election of James Madison to Congress. The church still stands today in Madison County, Virginia, a memorial to the courage and tenacity of our German ancestors of the Second Colony. It is the oldest continually operating Lutheran Church in the United States.
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Research and Resources

Where to go for more information about the Germanna Second Colony: websites and books.
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Germanna Yagers

The Yagers were different. They did not travel from the Baden-Württemburg area as their fellow travelers did, but rather, from a mountain in Pfalz. Find out more about our ancestor Nicholas Yager and his son Adam.
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Affiliated Websites

See our affiliated websites, below, for information on Alexander Spotswood, the Germanna Colony, and the Germanna Research Group.

About

This Website is owned and maintained by Second Colony LLC, a Maryland Limited Liability Company, dedicated to improving our understanding of the Second Colony of the Germanna immigrants and sharing that knowledge with others. Content is copyrighted by Second Colony LLC

County Creation Dates

Although you will find four different Virginia counties mentioned in the history and genealogy of the Second Colony, after 1726 most of them lived in just one place, today's Madison County, Virginia. To lessen confusion, note the following dates of county creation:

Spotsylvania County, created from Essex County, 1721

Orange County, created from Spotsylvania County, 1734

Culpeper County, created from Orange County, 1748

Madison County, created from Culpeper County, 1793

Germanna Research Group

The Germanna Research Group is an independent group of scholars, researchers, and students of 18th and early 19th-century Virginia history. A major focus of inquiry will be the German immigrants who arrived in colonial Virginia in the early 1700s, and Lieutenant Governer Alexander Spotswood. The descendants of these German immigrants, now spread far and wide, contribute to these affiliated websites. The Germanna Research Group is not affiliated, however, with any other organization.