Virginia Genealogy, Sources & Resources,
by Carol McGinnis
by Carol McGinnis
page 128 STOVERS
page 128 STOVERS
Other Arrivals at Germanna before 1725 were: Albright, Aylor, Carpenter, Castler, Christopher, Folg, Kable (Cobble), Kooper, Michael, Rouse, Stoltz, Tanner, Wayland, Wilheit, Yowell, and Zollicoffer, Latter arrivals include Baumgardner, Christler, Crees, Deer, Delp, Finks, Fisher, Fray, Garr, House, Klug, Leathers, Manspiel, Reiner, Stover, Teter, Bogt, Walke, Ziegler, and many others.
Germans(and Swiss) from Pennsylvania begain entering the Shenandoah Valley in the 1720s. In 1726 Jacob Stover led some settlers to the Shenandoah River, Then in 1727 Adam Miller (Muller), a Palatine from Lancaster Co. Pa., settled in present Page County and established the Massanutten Settlement. In 1732, Jost (Joist) Hite brought more that 10 families from Pennsylvania "to settle on the 40,000 acres granted by the Governor to John and Isaac Van Meter of Pennsylvania."
The Germans "concentrated in Page, Shenandoah, and Rockingham Counties, along the Massanutten mountains, with lesser numbers in Madison, Rappahannock, Prince William, Botetourt, and Culpeper. Strasburg, {once called Stover Town,}--named for the captial of Alsace--Luray--{named by Peter Stover}, Newmarket, and Harrisonburg were trading centers. Most of these German settlers were Lutheran, but other were members of the Reformed Church, Dunkers (Church of the Brethren) Mennonites and Amish. By 1860, about 25 percent of the population of Virginia were Germans. For more information on the German migration into Virginia, see Klaus Wust's, The Virginia Germans; and Herrmann Schuricht's History of the German Element in Virginia.
Other printed sources for German ancestors include the 14 volumes of the Germanna Record, the official publication of the Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies.
