Produced by Paul Dring, Mark C. Orton and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| Transcribers note: |
| Extensive research has found no evidence of copyright |
| renewal for this work. |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
[Illustration: Matoaka als Rebecka daughter to the mighty Prince
Powhatan Emperour of Attanoughkomouck als virginia converted and
baptized in the Christian faith, and wife to the worshipful Mr. John
Rolff
From Weddell, _A Memorial Volume of Virginia Historical Portraiture_]
THE FIRST SEVENTEEN YEARS
Virginia, 1607-1624
CHARLES E. HATCH, JR.
The University Press of Virginia
Charlottesville
COPYRIGHT(C), 1957 BY
VIRGINIA 350TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
CORPORATION, WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
_Tenth printing 1991_
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The University Press of Virginia / Charlottesville
CONTENTS
Foreword
The Start of Colonization 1
The Establishment of Jamestown 4
Summer and Fall, 1607 5
The Three Supplies, 1608-1610 6
A Critical Hour 10
Order and More Stable Ways 12
Tobacco 16
Yeardley and Argall 18
A New Approach 21
Yeardley and Wyatt 26
Virginia and the Dissolution 29
The Spread of Settlement--1607 to 1624 34
Towns, Plantations, Settlements, and Communities in
Virginia: 1607-1624 (numbers are keyed to text and
to illustrating map) 32, 33
1. Pasbehegh Country--1617 35
A. Argall Town--1617 36
B. Pasbehegh--c.1617 37
C. "the Maine"--1608 37
2. Smith's (Southampton) Hundred--1617 38
3. "Tanks Weyanoke"--c.1618 41
4. Swinhows--before 1622 43
5. Westover--c.1619 43
6. Berkeley Town and Hundred--1619 44
7. Causey's Care (or "Cleare")--c.1620 46
8. West and Shirley Hundred--c.1613 47
9. Upper Hundred-"Curls"--c.1613 49
10. "Diggs His Hundred"--c.1613 49
11. The "citty of Henricus" (Henrico)--1611 50
12. Arrahatock--before 1619 52
13. The College Lands--c.1619 53
14. The Falls--1609 56
15. Falling Creek--c.1619 57
16. Sheffield's Plantation--before 1622 59
17. Proctor's Plantation--before 1622 60
18. Coxendale--c.1611 60
19. "Bermuda Citty" (Charles City) Incorporation 62
A. Bermuda Hundred--1613 62
B. Rochdale Hundred--1613 63
C. Bermuda City--1613 63
20. Piercey's Plantation--c.1620 66
21. Jordan's Journey--c.1619 67
22. Woodleefe's Plantation--c.1619 68
23. Chaplain's Choice--c.1623 68
24. Truelove's Plantation--c.1621 69
25. "Powle-brooke" or Merchant's Hope--1619 70
26. Maycock's Plantation--c.1618 71
27. Flowerdieu Hundred-Piercey's Hundred--c.1618 71
28. "Captaine Spilmans Divident"--before 1622 73
29. Ward's Plantation--c.1619 73
30. Martin's Brandon--c.1617 75
31. "Paces-Paines"--1620 77
32. Burrow's Mount--c.1624 78
33. Plantations "Over the river from Jamestown" 79
A. Treasurer's Plantation (George Sandys)--c. 1621 80
B. Hugh Crowder's Plantation--c.1622 81
C. Edward Blaney's Plantation--c.1624 81
D. Capt. Roger Smith's Plantation--c.1622 82
E. Capt. Samuel Mathews' Plantation--c.1622 82
34. Hog Island--1609 83
35. Lawne's Plantation--1619 85
36. Warrascoyack (Bennett's Plantation)--1621 86
37. "Basse's Choyse"--1622 89
38. Nansemond--1609 89
39. The Eastern Shore--c.1614 90
40. Elizabeth City (Kecoughtan)--1610 93
41. Newport News--1621 98
42. Blunt Point--c.1621 101
43. Mulberry Island--c.1617 102
44. Martin's Hundred--1618 104
45. Archer's Hope--c.1619 107
46. "Neck-of-Land neare James Citty"--before 1624 109
Selected Readings 112
Appendix; Supplies for Virginia 114
FOREWORD
The colonization of Virginia was a mammoth undertaking even though
launched by a daring and courageous people in an expanding age. The
meager knowledge already accumulated was at hand to draw on and England
was not without preparation to push for "its place in the sun." There
was a growing navy, there was trained leadership, there was capital,
there was organization and there were men ready to make the gamble for
themselves and to the glory of God and for their country.
It remained for the Virginia Company of London, under its charter of
April 10, 1606, to found the first permanent English settlement in
America. This company, a commercial organization from its inception,
assumed a national character, since its purpose was to "deduce" a
"colony." It was instrumental, under its charter provisions, in
guaranteeing to the settlers in the New World the rights, freedoms, and
privileges enjoyed by Englishmen at home as well as the enjoyment of
their customary manner of living which they adapted to their new
environment with the passage of years. Quite naturally the settlers
brought with them their church and reverence for God, maintained trial
by jury and their rights as free men, and soon were developing
representative government at Jamestown.
The immediate and long-range reasons for the settlement were many and,
perhaps, thoroughly mixed. Profit and exploitation of the country were
expected, for, after all, this was a business enterprise. A permanent
settlement was the objective. Support, financial and popular, came from
a cross section of English life. It seems obvious from accounts and
papers of the period that it was generally thought that Virginia was
being settled for the glory of God, for the honor of the King, for the
welfare of England, and for the advancement of the Company and its
individual members.
In England, and in Virginia, they expected and did carry the word of God
to the natives, although not with the same verve as the Spanish. They
expected to develop natural resources, to free the mother country from
dependence on European states, to strengthen their navy, and to increase
national wealth and power. They expected to be a thorn in the side of
the Spanish Empire; in fact, they hoped one day to challenge and
overshadow that empire. They sought to find the answer to what seemed to
be unemployment at home. They sought many things not the least of them
being gold, silver, land and personal advancement. As the men stepped
ashore on Jamestown Island, perhaps each had a slightly different view
of why he was there, yet some one or a combination of these motives was
probably the reason.
The first section of this account is an adaptation, by the
author of the booklet, _Jamestown, Virginia: The Town Site and
Its Story_ (National Park Service, Historical Handbook Series,
No. 2) published by the Government Printing Office,
Washington, D. C., 1949.
[Illustration: Portrait from John Smith's _General History_ (London,
1624). Courtesy of the Tracy W. McGregor Library, University of
Virginia.]
[Illustration: "James Fort" built in May and June, 1607--_A painting by
Sidney King for Colonial National Historical Park._]
[Illustration: The Arrival of the Settlers at Jamestown on May 13, 1607.
English Merchantmen of the size and date of the _Godspeed_ 40 tons,
_Susan Constant_ 100 tons, and the "pinnessee" _Discovery_ 20 tons
maneuvering for anchorage off Jamestown Island 1607. _A pencil Study by
Griffith Bailey Coale, courtesy of Mariners Museum._]
[Illustration: Worship at Cape Henry on April 29, 1607 as depicted by
Stephen Reid. _Courtesy of the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk._]
[Illustration: Pottery-making as it may have been done in the early
years at Jamestown where such work was carried on. _A painting by Sidney
King for Colonial National Historical Park._]
[Illustration: "The Cooper" as he may have worked in early Jamestown. _A
painting by Sidney King for Colonial National Historical Park._]
[Illustration: Shipbuilding, known to have been carried on at Jamestown
as early as 1609, may have been done in this manner. _A painting by
Sidney King for Colonial National Historical Park._]
[Illustration: A winter scene suggestive of life on Jamestown Island
about 1625. _From a painting by Sidney King for Colonial National
Historical Park._]
[Illustration: A home such as could have existed at Jamestown by 1625.
_From a painting for Colonial National Historical Park by Sidney
King._]
Virginia, 1607-1624
On May 13, 1607, three small English ships approached Jamestown Island
in Virginia: the _Susan Constant_ of 100 tons, commanded by Captain
Christopher Newport and carrying seventy-one persons; the _Godspeed_ of
forty tons, commanded by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold and carrying
fifty-two persons; and the _Discovery_, a pinnace of twenty tons, under
Captain John Ratcliffe with twenty-one persons. During the day they
maneuvered the ships so close to the shore that they were "moored to the
trees in six fathom [of] water." The next day, May 14, George Percy
continues, "we landed all our men, which were set to worke about the
fortification, others some to watch and ward as it was convenient." In
this manner the first permanent English settlement in America was begun
on the shores of the James River, in Virginia, about twenty years after
the ill-fated attempts to establish a colony on Roanoke Island and
thirteen years before the Pilgrims made their historic landing at
Plymouth in New England.
THE START OF COLONIZATION
The expedition of 1607, dispatched by the Virginia Company of London,
included supplies and no less than 145 persons of whom 104 or 105
(depending on which of the more detailed contemporary accounts is
accepted) were to remain in Virginia as the first settlers. The fleet
left England late in 1606. It moved down the Thames River from London on
December 20 and, after a slow start, the ships proceeded over the long
route through the West Indies. Captain Newport was in command, and the
identity of the councilors who were to govern in Virginia lay hidden in
a locked box not to be opened until their destination had been reached.
Dissension at one point on the voyage led to charges against John Smith
who reached the New World in confinement. This was suggestive of the
later personal and group feuds and disagreements that plagued the first
years of the Virginia Colony. It was a condition that grew out of the
initial organization that placed authority in Virginia in a Council
rather than in a single governor. It led John Rolfe, in 1616, to write,
in retrospect, that: "the beginning of this plantacion was governed by a
President & Councell aristocraticallie. The President yerely chosen out
of the Councell, which consisted of twelve persons. This government
lasted above two yeres: in which time such envie, dissentions and jarrs
were daily sowen amongst them, that they choaked the seedes and blasted
the fruits of all mens labors."
The "Land of Virginia" was first seen by the lookout on April 26, and
just a little later in the same day a party was sent ashore at Cape
Henry to make what was the first landing in the wilderness which they
came to conquer. Having been aboard ship for many weeks, the settlers
found the expanse of land, the green virgin trees, the cool, fresh
water, and the unspoiled landscape a pleasant view to behold. At Cape
Henry they saw Indians and several of the party were wounded by their
arrows, notably Capt. Gabriel Archer, one of the experienced leaders.
They built a "shallop," went exploring into the country for short
distances by land and water, enjoyed the spring flowers, and tasted
roasted oysters and "fine beautiful strawberries." On April 29, a cross
was set up among the sand dunes. The next day the ships were moved from
Cape Henry into Chesapeake Bay to the site on Hampton Roads which they
named Point Comfort, now Old Point Comfort.
For about two weeks, explorations were made along both banks of the
James, below and above Jamestown, from its mouth to a point as far
upstream perhaps as the mouth of the Appomattox River near present
Hopewell. Parties went ashore to investigate promising areas, and
communication was established with the native tribes. On May 12, a
point of land at the mouth of Archer's Hope, now College Creek, a little
below Jamestown, was examined in detail. From this site the ships moved
directly to Jamestown, where they arrived May 13. On May 14, they landed
and broke ground for the fort and the town that ultimately won the
distinction of the first permanent English settlement in America and the
Capital of the Virginia Colony for almost a century.
In May 1607, the days were warm; the nights, cool. Life was stirring in
the wilderness and nature had been generous, the colonists thought.
There were fruits, abundant timber, deer and other animals for food, and
a not too numerous native population. The hot, humid weather of
midsummer and the snow, ice, and emptiness of winter were not in
evidence. The choice of a site for settlement was both good and bad. The
anchorage for ships at Jamestown was good. The Island had not then
become a true island and had an easily controlled dry land isthmus
connection with the mainland. As the river narrows here, it was one of
the best control points on the James. It had been abandoned by the
Indians; and it was a bit inland, hence somewhat out of range of the
Spanish menace. Arable land on the Island was limited by inlets and
"guts." The marshes bred in abundance, even the deadly mosquitoes whose
forebears had been brought from the West Indies in the colonists' own
vessels; and, with contamination so easy, drinking water was a problem.
All of these facts became evident to these first English Americans as
the months went by.
When the orders were opened after arrival in Virginia, it was found that
the governing body in the Colony was made up of seven councilors. Edward
Maria Wingfield, of gallant service in the Low Countries; Bartholomew
Gosnold and Christopher Newport, both seasoned seamen and captains; John
Ratcliffe, who piloted the _Discovery_ to Virginia; John Martin, an
earlier commander under Drake; John Smith, already an experienced
adventurer; and George Kendall, a cousin of Sir Edwin Sandys who later
was to play a dominant role in the Virginia Company. To this list can
be added other prominent names: George Percy, brother to the Earl of
Northumberland and a trained sailor; Gabriel Archer, a lawyer who had
already explored in the New England country; and Reverend Robert Hunt,
the vicar at Jamestown, whose pious and exemplary living was noted by
his associates.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF JAMESTOWN
The work of establishing Jamestown and of exploring the country round
about began almost simultaneously and remarkable strides were made in a
short time. The several weeks between May 13 and June 22, when Newport
left Virginia for a return to England, were busy ones. At Jamestown an
area was cleared of trees and the fort begun. The soil was readied and
the English wheat brought over for the purpose was planted. At this
point Newport, in one of the small boats, led an exploring party as far
as the falls of the James. He was absent from Jamestown about a week and
returned to find that the Indians had launched a fierce attack on the
new settlement which had been saved, perhaps, by the fact that the ships
were near at hand. These afforded safe quarters and carried cannon on
their decks that had a frightening effect on the natives.
The fort was completed about mid-June. It was triangular in shape, with
a "bulwarke" at each corner which was shaped like a "halfe moone."
Within the "bulwarkes" were mounted four or five pieces of artillery:
demiculverins which fired balls of about nine pounds in weight. The fort
enclosed about one acre with its river side extending 420 feet and its
other sides measuring 300 feet. The principal gate faced the river and
was in the south side (curtain) of the fort, although there were other
openings, one at each "bulwarke," and each was protected by a piece of
ordnance. The church, storehouse, and living quarters were flimsily
built of perishable materials, within the walls of the palisaded fort,
along fixed "streets" and around an open yard. For the first few years
this fort was Jamestown.
Before the fort was completed the wheat had come up and was growing
nicely, as George Percy wrote in what was probably the first essay on
farming along the James River. About June 10, John Smith, partly through
the intercession of Robert Hunt, was released and admitted to his seat
on the Council. Relations with the Indians improved. On June 21, the
third Sunday after Trinity, the first recorded Anglican communion was
celebrated. "We had comunion. Captain Newport dined ashore with our
diet, and invited many of us to supper as a farewell." The next day,
Christopher Newport raised anchor and began the return trip to England.
He took letters from those remaining in Virginia and carried accounts
describing Virginia and the events that had occurred. The settlement had
been made, and the future seemed promising.
SUMMER AND FALL, 1607
Within the short span of two months, conditions changed drastically. The
Indians became cautious and distrustful, and provisions, not
sufficiently augmented from the country, began to run low. Spoilage
destroyed some food, and, with the coming of the hot, humid weather, the
brackish drinking water proved dangerous. In August, death struck often
and quickly, taking among others the stabilizing hand of Captain
Gosnold. Inexperience, unwillingness, or inability due to insufficient
food, to do the hard work that was necessary and the lack of sufficient
information about how to survive in a primeval wilderness led to
bickering, disagreements, and, to what was more serious still, inaction.
As the first summer wore on it was natural that hostility should develop
toward the titular head of the Colony. Had the first president, Edward
Maria Wingfield, been a stronger, more adventurous, and more daring man,
conditions might have been a little better, despite his lack of real
authority. He was not the leader to act, and, to reason later.
Consequently, opinion was arrayed against him and charges, some unjust
no doubt, were formed that led to his deposition and replacement in one
of the two celebrated jury trials which occurred at Jamestown about
mid-September. His successor, perhaps no more able, was John Ratcliffe
who continued for about a year until he was deposed and replaced by
Matthew Scrivener, one of those who came over with the first supply. It
was a little later, in 1608, that Captain John Smith took the helm as
chief councilor, which was what the president really was. It was under
the presidency of Ratcliffe, however, that Smith emerged as an able,
experienced leader, who preferred action to inaction even though it
might be questioned later. His work and his decisions, sometimes wise,
sometimes not so wise, did much to insure the initial survival of the
Colony.
When the first cool days of approaching autumn touched Jamestown, in
1607, spirits rose and hopefulness supplanted despair. Disease, which
had reduced the number to less than fifty persons, subsided; the
oppressive heat lessened; and Indian crops of peas, corn, and beans
began to mature. Friendly relations were established with the natives,
and barter trade developed. As the leaves fell, game became easier to
get, ducks multiplied in the ponds and marshes, and life in general
seemed brighter. Work was resumed in preparation for the coming winter,
and exploration was undertaken.
It was in December, 1607, while investigating the Chickahominy River
area, that Smith was taken by the Indians. He was eventually carried
before Powhatan who released him, some say through the intercession of
the young Pocahontas. Upon return to Jamestown he was caught in the
meshes of a feuding Council and was faced even with the possibility of
being hanged for the death of his companions.
THE THREE SUPPLIES, 1608-1610
All was forgotten early in January, however, when Newport reached
Jamestown with the first supply for the settlers. He brought food,
equipment, instructions, and news from home. The two ships of the
supply had left England together, but the second did not reach Virginia
until April.
Shortly after Newport's arrival in January, disaster came. Fire swept
through "James Fort," consuming habitations, provisions, ammunition,
some of the palisades and even Reverend Robert Hunt's books. This was a
serious blow in the face of winter weather. With the help of Newport and
his sailors, the church, storehouse, palisades, and cabins were
partially rebuilt before he sailed again for England early in April.
Much more could have been done had he not consumed so many days in a
pompous visit and lengthy negotiations with the wily Powhatan. Then,
too, the ships had to be loaded for the return voyage, for the London
backers were calling loudly for profitable produce.
The first of the spring months were spent in cutting cedar logs and
preparing "clapboards" for sale in England, and a little later there
seems to have been a mild "gold rush" at Jamestown as some hopeful
looking golden colored soil was found. This all delayed early spring
clearing and planting, and boded ill for the coming summer when Smith
undertook additional explorations.
It was in September 1608 that Smith became president in fact and
inaugurated a program of physical improvement at Jamestown. The area
about the fort was enlarged and the standing structures repaired. At
this point, in October, the second supply arrived, including seventy
settlers, who, when added to the survivors in Virginia, raised the
over-all population to about 120.
Among the new arrivals were two women, Mistress Forrest and her maid.
Several months later, in the church at Jamestown, the maid, Ann Burras,
was married to one of the settlers, John Laydon, a carpenter by trade.
This marriage has been ranked as "the first recorded English marriage on
the soil of the United States." Their child, Virginia, born the next
year, was the first to be born at Jamestown.
With the second supply came workmen sent over to produce glass, pitch,
soap ashes, and other items profitable in England. So rapidly did they
begin the search for a source of wealth that "trials" of at least some
of the products were sent home when Newport left Jamestown before the
end of the year.
In addition to settlers and supplies, Newport brought more instructions
from the Company officials. The Colony was not succeeding financially,
and it was urged that the Council spend more time in planning the
preparation of marketable products. It was urged, too, that gold be
sought more actively; that Powhatan be crowned as a recognition
befitting his position; and that more effort be expended in search of
the Roanoke settlers. These projects, all untimely, were emphasized, and
the more pressing needs of adequate shelter and sufficient food were
neglected.
In the interval from about February to May 1609, there was considerable
material progress in and about Jamestown. Perhaps forty acres were
cleared and prepared for planting in Indian corn, the new grain that
fast became a staple commodity. A "deep well" was dug in the fort. The
church was re-covered and twenty cabins built. A second trial was made
at glass manufacture in the furnaces built late in 1608. A blockhouse
was built at the isthmus which connected the Island to the mainland for
better control of the Indians, and a new fort was erected on a tidal
creek across the river from Jamestown.
Smith was now in command, as his fellow councilors either had returned
to England or were dead. About this time there came a new disaster. With
all attention centered on the numerous construction projects,
insufficient protection was given the meager supply of grain. When
discovered, rats had consumed almost all of the vital corn stores. Faced
with this situation, Smith found it necessary to scatter the settlers,
sending some to live with the Indians and some to eat at the oyster
banks. Only "a small guarde of gentlemen & some others [were left] about
the president at James Towne."
In midsummer of 1609, conditions at Jamestown were not good, although it
is doubtful that they were any worse than during the two previous
summers. The settlers were becoming acclimated, and they were learning
the ways of the new country. Supplies were low, yet the number of
colonists was small, and a good harvest and a good fall might have
improved matters had not some 400 new, inexperienced settlers sailed
into the James with only damaged supplies. To add to other
complications, they brought fever and plague. In the selection of
prospective settlers for the voyage the standards had been low, and too
many ne'er-do-wells, and even renegades, had been included.
This was the third supply, and it reached Jamestown in August.
Unfortunately it arrived without its leadership and the authority to
institute the governmental changes which the Company had authorized.
These changes provided for the appointment by the Company of a strong
governor with an advisory council in Virginia. Sir Thomas Gates had been
dispatched as Governor, yet the ship bearing him, along with Sir George
Somers and Captain Newport was wrecked in the Bermuda Islands.
Reaching Virginia in the third supply were several men who had been
earlier leaders in the Colony and who were now all hostile to Smith:
Archer, Ratcliffe, and Martin. A confusing scene developed over command.
The old leaders, particularly Smith, refused to give way to the new in
the absence of Gates, the appointed governor. There was considerable
bickering which led to an uneasy settlement, leaving Smith in charge for
the duration of his yearly term, now almost expired.
It was obvious to everyone that there were too many men for all to
remain at Jamestown. John Martin was sent to attempt a settlement at
Nansemond, on the south side of the James below Jamestown, while Captain
Francis West, brother of Lord De La Warr, was sent to settle at the
falls of the James. Returning to Jamestown after an inspection tour at
the falls, Captain Smith was injured by burning gunpowder and
incapacitated. Ratcliffe, Archer, and Martin seemingly used this
opportunity to depose him and to compel him to return to England to face
their charges against him as had been the fate of previous presidents.
These three men, failing to agree on a replacement from their own
number, persuaded George Percy to accept the position of president.
Percy was in command during the terrible winter that followed.
The winter of 1609-10 has been described through the years as the
"starving time," seemingly, an accurate description. It saw the
population shrink from 500 to about sixty as a result of disease,
sickness, Indian arrows, and malnutrition. It destroyed morale and
reduced the men to scavengers stalking the forest, fields, and woods for
anything that might be used as food. When spring came there was little
spirit left in the settlement. It would seem unjust to attribute the
disaster to Percy, who did what he could to ameliorate conditions by
attempting trade and keeping the men busy. The "starving time" appears
to have been caused by an accumulation of circumstances not the least of
them being internal dissension and the now open hostility of the Indian.
The heavy use of force and armed persuasion in dealing with them was
bound to have its effect. It cut off the badly needed supply of corn and
other Indian foods.
A CRITICAL HOUR
In May 1610, the hearts of the weary settlers were gladdened when Sir
Thomas Gates, their new governor, sailed into the James. For about a
year he and the survivors of the wreck of the _Sea Venture_ had labored
in Bermuda to make possible the continuation of their voyage to
Virginia. For the purpose they built two small boats, the _Patience_ and
the _Deliverance_. It was not a pleasant sight that greeted them at
Jamestown. Ruin and desolation were everywhere. Gates, with his Council,
on July 7, 1610, wrote that Jamestown seemed "raither as the ruins of
some auntient [for]tification, then that any people living might now
inhabit it...."
Gates promptly distributed provisions, such as he had, and introduced a
code of martial law, the code that was strengthened later by De La Warr
and made famous by its strict enforcement during the governorship of Sir
Thomas Dale. After surveying the condition of the settlement and
realizing that the supplies he had brought would not last three weeks,
Gates took counsel with the leaders. They decided to abandon the
settlement. On June 7, 1610, the settlers, except some of the Poles and
Dutchmen who were with Powhatan, boarded the ship, left Jamestown, and
started down the James.
The next morning, while still in the river, advance word reached Gates
that Lord De La Warr had arrived at Point Comfort on the way to
Jamestown and was bringing 150 settlers and a generous supply. The bad
news carried to England by the returning ships of the third supply, late
in 1609, had caused considerable stir in Virginia Company circles and
had resulted in De La Warr's decision to go to Virginia. Learning of the
new supply, Gates hastened back to Jamestown. The new settlement had
been saved in a manner that was recognized at that time as an act of
"Providence."
On June 10, De La Warr reached "James Citty" and made his landing. He
entered the fort through the south gate, and, with his colors flying,
went on to the church where Reverend Richard Buck delivered an
impressive sermon. Then his ensign, Anthony Scott, read his commission,
and Gates formally delivered to him his own authority as governor. De La
Warr's arrival had given the settlement new life and new hope. Lean
times lay ahead, yet the most difficult years lay behind. Virginia now
had a government that made for stability under the governor, and the old
settlers, who, a little later, came to be called "ancient planters," had
learned well by experience.
Gates, after dealing with the Indians, left for England. De La Warr, who
continued to live aboard ship for a time, called a Council, reorganized
the colonists, and directed operations to promote the welfare of the
Colony, including the construction of two forts near Point Comfort. He
fell sick, however, and, after a long illness, was forced to leave
Jamestown and Virginia in March 1611. The now veteran administrator,
George Percy, was made governor in charge. With De La Warr went Dr.
Lawrence Bohun, who had experimented extensively with the curative
powers of plants and herbs at Jamestown.
ORDER AND MORE STABLE WAYS
In May, 1611 Sir Thomas Dale, on military leave from his post in the Low
Countries, arrived as deputy governor of Virginia. With him were three
ships, three smaller boats, 300 people, domestic animals, and supplies.
He proceeded to give form and substance to the martial law which had
been evoked by his predecessors and to the achievement of rather severe
regimentation. He began by posting proclamations "for the publique view"
at Jamestown. Later, he thoroughly inspected suitable settlement sites
and surveyed conditions generally. He wrote, on May 25, that on arrival
at Jamestown he found "... no corn sett, some few seeds put into a
private garden or two; but the cattle, cows, goats, swine, poultry &c to
be well and carefully on all hands preserved and all in good plight and
likeing."
To get things in order at the seat of government, one party was
designated to repair the church, another to work on the stable, another
to build a wharf. When things were reasonably well in hand at Jamestown,
he made plans to push the decision to open a new settlement above
Jamestown which, he hoped, would become the real center of the Colony.
The reasons for such a removal of the seat of government are well known:
not sufficient high land at Jamestown, poor drinking water, too much
marsh, and a location not far enough upstream to be out of reach of the
Spanish. Too often the reality of the ever present Spanish threat to
Virginia is overlooked. Spain, still strong, had long been dominant in
the New World and had known intentions of eliminating the English. That
they never effectively moved in this direction did not lessen the fear
in the Colony in the early years. This explains the various alarms that
went out along the James from time to time. Quite naturally there was
concern when spies were landed at Point Comfort in 1611. These were kept
under careful scrutiny for several years, until disposition was made of
them.
In the very critical period of 1611-1616, during the administrations of
Gates and Dale, emphasis was away from Jamestown. Emphasis fell on newly
established Henrico and then on Bermuda together with their related
settlements. Attention was given, too, to Kecoughtan and a settlement
was made even on the Eastern Shore. Despite all of this, Jamestown
remained as Virginia's capital. In 1612, "Master George Percie ... [was
busy] with the keeping of Jamestown" while much of the Colony had been
"moved up river." The first settlement now was looked upon as chiefly a
place of safety for hogs and cattle.
In 1614 it was made up of "two faire rowes of howses, all of framed
timber, two stories, and an upper garret or corne loft high, besides
three large, and substantiall storehowses joined togeather in length
some hundred and twenty foot, and in breadth forty...." Without the town
"... in the Island [were] some very pleasant, and beutifull howses, two
blockhowses ... and certain other framed howses." In 1616 it was a post
of fifty under the command of Lieutenant John Sharpe, who was acting in
the absence of Captain Francis West. Thirty-one of these were "farmors"
and all maintained themselves with "food and raiment."
The Gates-Dale five-year administration (1611-16) actually saw Virginia
established as a going concern. The role of Dale in all of this seems to
have been a heavy, perhaps the predominant, one although the role of
Gates should not be overlooked. Martial law brought order and uniformity
in operations and compelled the people to work regularly, the hours
being six to ten in the morning, two to four in the afternoon. Dale saw
to it that corn was planted and harvested, that houses and boats were
built, and that the new laws were strictly observed. He pressed one and
all into service, even the women, some of whom "were appointed to make
shirtes for the Colony servants" using carefully rationed needle and
thread. Dale was credited, by a contemporary, as building on the
foundations laid by Gates in a manner that dealt effectively with the
two greatest "enemies and disturbers of our proceedings": "enmity with
the naturalls, and ... famine." Among the important achievements was the
careful husbanding of livestock to the end that a "great stock of kine,
goates, and other cattle" was built up for the company "for the service
of the publique."
Both Gates and Dale proceeded with a stern attitude toward the Indians.
In the end it was possible to arrive at a peaceful state by force and
negotiation. Dale recognized, too, that the Pocahontas-John Rolfe
marriage, in 1614, was "an other knot to binde this peace the stronger."
This helped to strengthen the treaties worked out with old Powhatan and
with the closer Chickahominies.
So effective were all of these measures that John Rolfe, in 1616, wrote
"whereupon a peace was concluded, which still continues so firme, that
our people yearlely plant and reape quietly, and travell in the woods a
fowling and a hunting as freely and securely from danger or treacherie
as in England. The great blessings of God have followed this peace, and
it, next under him, hath bredd our plentie...."
All this was accomplished when the fortunes of the Virginia Company were
at a low point and little support was being sent to the Colony. John
Rolfe then went on to predict that Dale's "worth and name ... will out
last the standing of this plantation...."
Martial law, strictly administered at first, was gradually relaxed in
application as conditions stabilized. Prior to 1614 Dale took the
momentous step of allotting "to every man in the Colony [excepting the
Bermuda Hundred people], three English acres of cleere corne ground,
which every man is to manure and tend, being in the nature of farmers."
Along with the three acres went exemption from much Company service and
such as was required was not to be in "seede time, or in harvest." There
was, however, to be a yearly levy of "two barrels and a halfe of corne"
and, except for clothing, a loss of right to draw on the Company store.
This greatly advanced individual responsibility and was a big step
toward the evolution of private property. In the beginning all ownership
was Company controlled. The reason for this is evident. The colonists
could not provide food and other necessaries all at once in a wilderness
infested by savages. A storehouse, or as it was termed, "a magazine,"
was provided in which all supplies were placed, and to which all
products obtained from the land were brought. This was a safety measure,
both for the Company, which had expended much for supplies, and for the
settlers. This plan has been misunderstood frequently by writers. It did
have its disadvantages. In time, with growth, and increased production,
the system passed away. The general division of land, promised in 1609,
was not to come until 1619. Dale took an interim step that had far
reaching importance in establishing permanency and stability.
Gates and Dale in their administration had the help of other
enterprising and daring early Virginians such as Samuel Argall, John
Rolfe, the Reverend Alexander Whitaker, Ralph Hamor and others. In the
case of Captain Samuel Argall, criticism of his later work as governor
often beclouds his earlier helpfulness in getting Virginia established.
He pioneered in making a direct crossing of the Atlantic to save time
and to avoid the Spanish. Argall led in exploration, both in Virginia
waters and northward along the coastline. He was adept at shipbuilding
and in the Indian trade. It was evidently he who discovered the best
fishing seasons and the fact that the fish made "runs" in the bay and in
the rivers. He made open attack on the French settlements to the north
in New England and Nova Scotia, returning to Jamestown with his
captives. There is little wonder that a contemporary wrote, "Captain
Argal whose indevores in this action intitled him most worthy."
It was Argall, too, who, while on a trading expedition on the Potomac,
captured Pocahontas and brought her prisoner to Jamestown in an attempt
to deal with her father, Powhatan. She was well received at Jamestown,
where earlier she had often visited, and when her father refused to pay
the price asked for her ransom, she was detained. Later, she preferred
life with the English and did not wish to return to her native village.
She was placed under the tutelage of Reverend Alexander Whitaker who
instructed her in the Christian faith. Eventually she was baptized, and,
in April 1614, in the church at Jamestown, married John Rolfe.
This was a reflection of the religious concern that existed in Virginia.
One of the ministers, Alexander Whitaker reported: That: "Sir Thomas
Dale (with whom I am) is a man of great knowledge in divinity, and of a
good conscience in all his doings: both which bee rare in a martiall
man. Every Sabbath day wee preach in the forenoone, and chatechize in
the afternoone. Every Saturday at night I exercise in Sir Thomas Dales
house. Our Church affaires bee consulted on by the minister, and foure
of the most religious men. Once every moneth wee have a communion, and
once a yeer a solemn fast."
TOBACCO
It was John Rolfe who pioneered in the cultivation of the plant that was
to be Virginia's economic salvation, tobacco. In the first years of the
settlement every effort had been made to find products in the New World
that would assure financial success for the settlers and the Company.
Pitch, tar, timber, sassafras, cedar, and other natural products were
sent in the returning ships. Attempts to produce glass on a paying scale
proved futile, as did early efforts to make silk, using the native
mulberry trees growing in abundance. The glass furnaces fell into
disuse, and rats ate the silkworms. Even the native tobacco plant
(_Nicotiana rustica_), found growing wild, was, as William Strachey
reported, "... not of the best kind ... [but was] poore and weake, and
of a biting tast ..." and initially held little promise.
It was about 1610-11 that seed was imported into Virginia from the
island of Trinidad very probably at the hand of John Rolfe, an ardent
smoker, who was credited by Ralph Hamor as the pioneer English colonist
in regularly growing tobacco for export. Hence he can be called the
father of the American tobacco industry. In its initial stage, too,
there was encouragement from the experienced Captain George Yeardley.
Following the process of selection and crossing which had proved so
successful for the Spanish cultivators in the West Indies, the initial
efforts were rewarding. The new plant (_Nicotiana tabacum_) proved
easily naturalized and adaptable to the Virginia soil.
The initial success led to an experimental shipment of tobacco from
Virginia in 1613. This was of pleasing taste and was well received in
some quarters. Soon tract after tract was cleaned of its native
_Nicotiana rustica_ as the settlers turned to the promising new species.
For a few years production was slow since English dealers were reluctant
to hazard too much on an uncertain commodity. In the 1615-16 period
Spain sent tobacco into London at the rate of twenty-five pounds for
each of the 2,300 pounds coming from Virginia. This was not to continue,
however, since English leaders were growing hostile to the successful
Spanish trade. Even before becoming aware of the Virginia product, they
were, with some success, encouraging production in England itself.
Despite domestic tobacco, however, and the favor of Spanish leaf, the
Virginia product, cheaper than the Spanish, began to win friendly users
in London and in the other cities. To meet the demand and to produce
profits, the young colony all but abandoned other industries and even
its staples, to the concern of the Company, for the cultivation of "the
weed." Soon governors were taking measures to restrict planting in the
interest of producing foodstuffs and in defending themselves. Captain
Samuel Argall, who came to Jamestown in 1617, is said to have found "but
five or six houses, the church downe, the palizado's broken, the bridge
in pieces, the well of fresh water spoiled; the store-house ... used for
the church; the marketplace, and streets, and all other spare places
planted with tobacco; the salvages as frequent in their homes as
themselves, whereby they were become expert in our armes ... the Colonie
dispersed all about planting Tobacco." In 1617 Virginia exported some
20,000 pounds, in 1619 this had doubled and in 1629, only a decade and a
half after the first shipment, the total reached 1,500,000 pounds.
Thus, a new trade and industry were born in the Colony. Tobacco proved
to be the economic salvation of Virginia, and provided a means that
brought land into use and made slavery profitable. Tobacco and slavery
together led to the development of important characteristics of the
whole social, political, and economic structure of the Old South. One of
the immediate effects of tobacco culture in Virginia was the impetus it
gave to the expansion of the area of settlement and to the number of
settlers coming to Virginia.
YEARDLEY AND ARGALL
When Dale departed Virginia in May, 1616 there was more security,
stability, good management, deeper understanding of the new land, and a
keener knowledge of survival than had existed prior to this date. Even
so, at this time only about 350 of all the hundreds of persons who had
come to the Colony had managed to stay alive and remained here.
Captain George Yeardley was left in charge, seemingly having been
appointed directly by Dale. Under him, it was reported, "the Colony
lived in peace and best plentie that ever it was to that time." He very
probably was glad to see the supply ship that came in October, 1616.
Various kinds of provisions from it were exchanged with the colonists
for their tobacco. It was this ship, too, that brought Abraham Piercey
who, as "cape-merchant," took over the management of the Company's store
in Virginia.
But all was not peace. Yeardley had soon to deal with the Chickahominies
who objected to their payment of "tribute corn." This was soon resolved
to the satisfaction of the Governor. Later there was friendly exchange
with the Indians even, it seems, to the extent of training some in the
use of firearms for hunting purposes and "There were divers ... [that]
had savages in like manner for their men." Perhaps, there was too much
familiarity for later well being.
In May, 1618 Argall returned to Virginia as deputy governor in charge.
He seemingly, with "sense and industry," began to renovate the disrepair
he found, particularly at Jamestown. He was the first to prescribe the
limits of Jamestown as well as of "the _corporation_ and _parish_" of
which it was the chief seat. He soon re-established good relations with
Opechancanough now the dominant Indian personality. He was hampered by a
great drought and a severe storm that damaged corn and tobacco, and he
sought to control profit and tobacco prices by proclamation. Moreover,
he was the author of a policy of watchfulness and carefulness in
individual relationships with the Indians.
Eventually, however, Argall was severely criticized and accused of the
misappropriation of Company resources. He was charged, too, with a host
of private wrongs to particular persons, wrongs accompanied by
high-handed actions. Much in disfavor, he slipped away from the Colony a
matter of days before the new Governor, Sir George Yeardley again,
reached Virginia in April, 1619.
It was early in the Yeardley-Argall three year span (1616-19) that a new
form of settlement began to take root in Virginia. This was that of the
particular plantation. No new Company communities had been, or would be,
added to the "four ancient boroughs" ("Incorporations") already
established, yet many would rise as the result of the enterprise,
expenditure, and direction of special ("particular") persons, or groups,
within the Company or having the sanction of it. Such settlements were
known as particular plantations.
Resulting settlements spread east and west along the James and outward
along its rivers and creeks as well. Jamestown lay approximately in the
center of an expanding and growing Colony. It was the center of one of
the four initial Incorporations and it was more. It developed into one
of the original Virginia shires in 1634. This shire, a decade later,
became a county. James City County continues as the oldest governing
unit in English America. Jamestown was its chief seat, Virginia's
capital town and the principal center of the Colony's social and
political life. In size it remained small, yet it was intimately and
directly related to all of the significant developments of Virginia in
the period.
There is strong evidence that Jamestown was the first to feel the impact
of the advantages and fruits that growth produced. Material progress is
evident as early as 1619 in the letter of John Pory, Secretary of the
Colony, written from Virginia late in that year:
Nowe that your lordship may knowe, that we are not the veriest
beggars in the worlde, our cowekeeper here of James citty on
Sunday goes accowtered all in freshe flaming silke; and a wife
of one that in England had professed the black arte, not of a
schollar, but of a collier of Croydon, weares her rought
bever hatt with a faire perle hatband, and a silken suite
thereto correspondent.
But it is good to remember, perhaps, that Virginia was still not the
perfect paradise. On March 15, 1619 a letter reaching England reported
sad news and very likely not unusual news--"about 300 of the Inhabitants
... died this last yeare."
A NEW APPROACH