Appalachia’s Sunken City: The Heritage of Germans in the New River Valley
By Kristin Vaughn <br> <br>
(Photo Credit here)
October is the month of many different celebrations all over the world. One that is very popular in America, and Southwest Virginia, is Oktoberfest. We wanted to take a look back at some of the history surrounding our German ancestors here in the Valley and see why this is one of the most attended and celebrated community celebrations in the area.
People of German descent are one of the largest ethnic groups in the United States. They came to be known by the misnomer “Dutch” because Germans refer to themselves as Deutsch. Germans’ persistent and hardworking nature allowed them to thrive in backcountry settlements such as the southern Appalachians. People of German heritage have contributed greatly to American society and culture. They, like other European Americans, left their homeland to escape poverty, hunger, religious persecution, and establish a better life.
The majority of German immigrants to the United States were from the Palatinate, a fertile area of the southern Rhine River Valley. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the people of the Palatinate suffered from seemingly constant hardship. Peasants were dominated by feudal lords who taxed the poor heavily in order to support their lavish lifestyles. The official faith of a particular region was determined by its ruler. Therefore, peasants whose religion differed from that of their lords faced persecution. Early members emigrated mainly from Germany and Switzerland due to intense persecution at the onset of the 1700s. First settling in Pennsylvania, they helped populate the entire Alleghenies, particularly along tributaries of the Potomac River.
(Dunkards Bottom Historic Marker - Photo Credit)
One of the early settlements in the valley along the west bank of the New River was Mahaniam, meaning "two camps," in what is now Pulaski County and now lies beneath the waters of Claytor Lake. The settlement was founded about 1745 by three Germans from a group that had crossed the Atlantic seeking religious freedom and were called Sabbatarians and later became known as Dunkards. From this latter name came the identification of the settlement as Dunkards Bottom. It is reported that 900 acres of rich river bottomland was chosen and surveyed for the colony, which later had the only mill west of New River. However, many of the Dunkards became unhappy with their lot in the wilderness on the frontier of a new nation. They were said to be "odd" people who were very clannish and shunned by other settlers.
In 1749 the Moravian missionaries noted that in the region of Dunkard's Bottom, they found a "kind of white people who wore deer skins, lived by hunting, associated with the Indians and acted like savages." Once the Dunkards got to America, they changed their ways to fit the lifestyle of the American frontier.
(Dunkards Bottom Historic Site - Photo Credit)
However, being pacificists, the Dunkards became discontented and fearful, realizing their helplessness if attacked by Indians. So just five years after being established, Mahaniam disappeared as a budding settlement. Some of the settlers returned to Pennsylvania and other parts of Virginia with a few remaining in the immediate area.
When the Claytor Dam was completed on the New River in 1939, it replaced a slow, meandering river with a vast lake and dramatically changed the landscape of this part of the New River Valley. Landscapes, though, include memories as well as materials, and thus are more than just dirt, rocks, grass, and water. The memories embedded in the landscape are attested to by the traces left by generations of people who lived on the land, building roads, houses, churches, and schools. Each generation added layers of use and meaning to the land surrounding the New River, some of which remain intact while others lie hidden, waiting to be discovered by subsequent generations.
Those that remained in the area were responsible for integrating a Germanic way of life and adding to the culture that still exists today. They became skilled artisans and remained deeply religious. Many families can be traced directly back to these handful of brave and tough settlers.This year at the Merc, we will toast our friends and enjoy foods that are reminiscent of times long past.
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