In America they are called the
Scotch Irish, and in the main they brought stout hearts, long arms, and
level heads. With these they brought in as luggage the dogmas of Calvin.
They permeated the Valley of Virginia; many moved on south into Carolina;
finally, in large part, they made Kentucky and Tennessee. Germans, too,
came into the valley -- down from Pennsylvania -- quiet, thrifty folk, driven
thus far westward from a war-ravished Rhine.
Shrewd practicality trod hard upon the heels of romantic fancy in the mind
of Spotswood. His Order of the Knights of the Horseshoe had a fleeting
existence, but the Vision of the West lived on. Frontier folk in growing
numbers were encouraged to make their way from tidewater to the foot of the
Blue Ridge. Spotsylvania and King George were names given to new counties
in the Piedmont in honor of the Governor and the sovereign. German
craftsmen, who had been sent over by Queen Anne -- vine-dressers and
ironworkers -- were settled on Spotswood's own estate above the falls of the
Rapidan. The little town of Germanna sprang up, famous for its smelting
furnaces.
To his country seat in Spotsylvania, Alexander Spotswood retired when he
laid down the office of Governor in 1722. But his talents were too valuable
to be allowed to rust in inactivity. He was appointed deputy
Postmaster-General for the English colonies, and in the course of his
administration made one Benjamin Franklin Postmaster for Philadelphia. He
was on the point of sailing with Admiral Vernon on the expedition against
Cartagena in 1740, when he was suddenly stricken and died.
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