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Johann Jost MERTEN (1691 - 1758) was born in Germany, and became John Joseph MARTIN in America. He married Maria OTTERBACH (1699 - aft. 1724), also born in Germany. Johann and Maria both immigrated in 1714, and were in the Germanna Colony, Virginia.
The ancestry of Johan Jost MERTEN can be traced back several generations in Germany. See the MERTEN page.
Johann Jost MERTEN was born on 24 May 1691, in Müsen, a small mining village near Siegen, in western Germany, the 3rd of 11 children born to Hans Jacob MERTEN (23 Sep 1660 - 26 Aug 1693) and Anna Barbara WURMBACH (21 May 1667 - 10 Mar 1741). He immigrated to the Colony of Virginia in 1714, as part of a group of 42 German immigrants who were the first occupants of the Germanna Colony, at the invitation of Governor Spotswood. Among the group of immigrants were Johann's future wife, Maria OTTERBACH, and his half-brother, Melchior BROMBACH. In America, Johann was called John Joycelyn MARTIN, and later John Joseph MARTIN.
About 1718, John Joseph MARTIN married Maria Katherina OTTERBACH, also a German immigrant from the colony. Maria was born 5 Nov 1699, in Trupbach, near Siegen, Germany, daughter of Hermann OTTERBACH and Elspeth HEIMBACH. In 1714 Hermann and Elspeth, with their 5 daughters, were among the 42 original immigrants in Germanna.
John and Maria moved to Germantown in 1718, their 7 children were born there, from 1720 to 1731. Maria died between 1731 and 1734, and Johann married a woman named Eve, who bore him 3 more children, from 1735 to 1739. Johann and Eve stayed in Germantown until their deaths in 1758 and 1778.
The Germanna Colony was located in what was then Essex County, Virginia. A bend in the Rapidan river encloses the two-square-mile area on three sides, leaving access only from the south. It was hoped that this would provide some protection from Indian attacks. The county names and boundaries have changed, and this area is now in the northeastern corner of Orange County, Virginia, although little remains of the fort. Incidentally, of the original 42 settlers, 13 were named John!
[Thanks to James T. Mace]
The 12 men in the group were to work as miners. They had all come from the Siegen area, and were experienced in various types of mining. When they first arrived, the permission to begin mining had not yet been given, as it had not been decided how much of the proceeds would go to the crown. The settlers spent their time improving their living conditions, and searching the area for traces of precious metals and iron deposits.
The Germanna Colony in 1714 [Thanks to James T. Mace]
Germanna Fort
This is a reconstruction of the pioneer fort Germanna, founded in A. D. 1714. The combination church / blockhouse in the center is the first German Reformed Church in America. This was at the time the furthest west outpost of European civilization on the continent. The inhabitants were classed as "rangers" and provided cannon to defend the Virginia colony from Indian attacks. They were brought in by the acting Governor Spotswood to begin silver mining, and later inhabitants (after the move of the original founders to found Germantown) began the iron industry in the colony.
from James T. Mace
Apparently, the mines didn't work out, and most of the German miners left Germanna when their 4-year contracts were up, in about 1718. They were granted some property, and founded the town of Germantown, in what was then Stafford County, and is now part of Fauquier County, Virginia, about 8 miles south of Warrenton. Fauquier is pronounced fo-keer. Germantown was about 20 miles north of Germanna, and very little of either is still evident.
[Thanks to James T. Mace]
Since the settlers had all come from the same area in Germany, some of the families were already related, and the extended families continued to intermarry for several generations in America. Anyone who is related to someone in the colony is probably more distantly related to most of the others. Hence the names of FISHBACK/FISCHBACH, WHITE/HITT and OTTERBACH/UTTERBACH, and others, reoccur often in the MARTIN genealogy, with a complex linkage of intermarriages.
The Johann Jost MERTEN house in Germantown, VA.
1 Johann Jost MERTEN (John Joseph MARTIN) b: 24 May 1691 in Müsen, Germany, d: 1758 in Germanna, Essex, VA
+ Maria Katherina OTTERBACH b: 05 Nov 1699 in Trupbach, Germany, m: 1718 in Germantown, VA, d: 1734 in Prince William, VA
...2 Henry Andrew MARTIN b: 1720 in Germantown, VA, d: 20 Sep 1780 in Fauquier, VA
+ Mary Ann WHITE b: 26 Nov 1720 in Culpeper, Culpeper, VA,, m: 1740 in Fauquier, VA, d: 1782 in Fauquier, VA
...2 Mary MARTIN b: 1720 in Germantown, VA, d: 1763 in VA
+ Jacob THOMAS
...2 Jacob MARTIN b: 1722 in Germantown, VA, d: 1796 in Scott, KY
+ Sarah b: 1740 in Fauquier, VA, m: 1759 in VA, d: Jul 1821 in Harrison, Charles, VA
...2 Andrew MARTIN b: 1723 in Germantown, VA, d: 20 Sep 1780 in Fauquier, VA
+ Mary m: 08 Jul 1758
...2 James MARTIN b: 24 Apr 1727 in New Kent, VA
...2 Joseph MARTIN b: 1730 in Germantown, VA, d: 1793 in Fauquier, VA
+ Catherine HOLTZCLAW b: 1735 in Fauquier, VA, m: 1753 in Germantown, VA, d: Oct 1807 in Shelby, KY
...2 Tilman MARTIN b: 1731 in Germantown, VA, d: 23 Jul 1779 in Germantown, VA
+ Catherin KERNS m: 1755 in Fauquier, VA
+ Eve b: Abt. 1700, d: 1778 in Germantown, VA
...2 Eve MARTIN b: 1735 in Fleetwood, Culpepper, VA, d: 21 Oct 1782 in Germantown, VA
...2 John MARTIN b: 1736 in Germantown, VA, d: 1823 in Germantown, VA
...2 Charles MARTIN b: 1739 in Germantown, VA, d: 1815 in Fauquier, VA
Brothers Henry and Andrew had wives named Mary, and there is some dispute about which one was Mary Ann WHITE. It seems that she was not a member of the WHITE (or HITT) family of Germanna.
Sources:
[H] Ancestry and Descendants of the Nassau-Siegen Immigrants to Virginia 1714-1750, by B.C. Holtsclaw, 1964
[M] A Martin Genealogy/Tied to the History of Germanna, Virginia, by William A. Martin, 1995
Last updated 5 Sep 2020 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.
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