Alexander Spotswood, after service under the 1st…

Alexander Spotswood, after service under the 1st duke of Marlborough in the War of the Spanish Succession, had in 1710 been appointed lieutenant governor of Virginia.

In this post he had recommended the establishment of a Virginia company to carry on trade with the natives, urged the construction of forts along the frontier, and personally organized and conducted in 1716 an exploring expedition into the Shenandoah Valley.

His term as governor having ended in September 1722, he remains in Virginia, living near the ironworks he had established in Germanna, a settlement of Germans in Spotsylvania County (named in his honor).

Spotswood erects a palatial home and, after the Germans move away, will continue the ironworks with slave labor.