John Lederer

Background

John Lederer was born in Hamburg, Germany.

Education

He studied medicine at the Hamburg Academic Gymnasium where he matriculated in 1662.

Career

Lederer immigrated to Virginia in 1668. From Governor Berkeley of Virginia who desired to find a passage through the mountains, he received a "commission of discovery" and the command of an expedition for that purpose. He made three marches, between March 1669 and September 1670. His first journey (March 9-24, 1669), was from the head of the York River due west; he reached the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but did not descend their western slope.

His second march (May-June 1670) was from the falls of the James River west and southwest, and through part of North Carolina; his third expedition left the falls of the Rappa-hannock in August 1670 and pushed westward to the mountains. Since there is no record of the visit of any white man to the upper Rappa-hannock after Capt. John Smith's explorations in 1608, and Smith may never have penetrated part of the region covered by his map, it is probable that Lederer entered territory never before visited by a white man. During this last expedition his companions became disheartened and deserted him. He ventured to continue his searches with only an Indian guide, who served him as an interpreter. His faithless companions did not expect him to survive and created prejudice against him by telling the people of Virginia that he had expended the public taxes of that year in his wanderings.

Consequently, upon his return he was ill-treated by the inhabitants of Virginia and fled to Maryland to save his life. There he was naturalized in 1671 (Archives of Maryland, vol. II, 1884, pp. 282-83). He obtained a hearing from Sir William Talbot, a member of the Council, who found him a "modest ingenious person, and a pretty scholar, " and determined to vindicate him by translating his account of his travels from Latin into English. Accordingly, The Discoveries of John Lederer in Three Several Marches from Virginia, to the West of Carolina, and Other Parts of the Continent: Begun in March, 1669, and ended in September 1670, together with a General Map of the Whole Territory Which he Traversed, was published in London in 1672. This book was the first scientific report upon the geology, botany, animals, and native tribes of the extensive district which it covered. Though Lederer appears to have reached only the "top of the Apalat'n Mountains, " he gives reasons for supposing that "they are certainly in a great errour, who imagine that the Continent of North America is but eight or ten days journey over from the Atlantick to the Indian Ocean. " His account is generally accepted as descriptive of the Valley of Virginia, but his narrative seems apocryphal and his statements should be accepted with some reserve. The map that appeared in this volume is inaccurate, possibly because Lederer's instruments were carried off by his recreant companions.

Achievements

• Lederer was known as an explorer of the Appalachian Mountains. He and the members of his party became the first Europeans to crest the Blue Ridge Mountains (1669) and the first to see the Shenandoah Valley and the Allegheny Mountains beyond.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The discoveries of John Lederer,: With unpublished letters by and about Lederer to Governor John Winthrop, Jr., and an essay on the Indians of ... by Douglas L. Rights and William P. Cumming

    (The discoveries of John Lederer, in three several marches...)

  • The discoveries

    (The discoveries of John Lederer in three several marches ...)

References

• The discoveries of John Lederer, in three several marches from Vriginia, to the west of Carolina, and other parts of the continent: begun in March ... map of the whole territory which he traversed
• John Lederer, der Entdecker des Virginia Valley (Classic Reprint) (German Edition)