They wanted a better life. In July, , 25 or more German families left their homes in southwest Germany to travel down the Rhine to Rotterdam, where they found a ship to London. In London, they arranged to travel with other Germans to Pennsylvania. But the journey did not turn out the way they planned…. Were your German ancestors among the brave band of Virginia colonists who lived on the very edge of civilization in the early part of the 18th century? The Yagers were different.