Busy conquering a stubborn wilderness, the first Jamestown settlers had
only a few things to make their houses cosy and cheerful. In most cases,
their worldly goods consisted of a few cooking utensils, a change of
clothing, a weapon or two, and a few pieces of homemade furniture.
However, between 1607 and 1612, George Percy was generously outfitted
with some necessities as well as much fine apparel and numerous luxury
items (including a feather bed) by his brother the Ninth Earl of
Northumberland, as published records of the Earl's expenditures for
George show. Other persons of gentle birth and position quite probably
enjoyed similar goods.
After the early years of hardship had passed, the colonists began to
acquire possessions for a more pleasant living; and by 1650 the better
houses were equipped with most of the necessities of life of those
times, as well as a few luxuries of comfortable living.