headright franchise. Dated January 26, 1621/22, it conveyed to Thomas
Hothersall 200 acres of land at Blunt Point located in later Warwick
County. The grant read as follows:
_By the Governr and Capt: Generll: of Virginia_
_To all to whome these prsents shall come_ greeting in our Lord God
Everlasting.
_Know Yee_ that I sr Francis Wyatt Kt, Governr and Capt: Generall
of Virginia, by vertue of the great charter of orders and lawes
concluded on and dated at London in a generall quarter court the
eighteenth day of November one thousand six hundred and eighteene
by the treasurer Counseil and company of adventurers for the first
southerne colony of Virginia, according to the authority graunted
them from his Matie under his great seale, the said charter being
directed to the Governr and Counseil of State here resident, and by
the rules of justice, equity & reason, doe wth the approbation and
consent of the same Counseil who are joyned in commission with mee,
give and graunt unto Mr. Thomas Hothersall of Paspehay gent., and
to his heires and assignes for ever, for his first generll:
devident, to bee augumented and doubled by the said company to him
and his said heires and assignes when hee or they shall once
sufficiently have planted and peopled the same.
Two hundred acres of land scituate and being at Blunt Point,
confining on the east the land of Cornelius May, on the south upon
the great river, on the north upon the maine land and on the west
runing towards a small creek one hundred rod (at sixteene foote and
a half the rod);
Fifty acres whereof is his owne psonall right and fifty acres is
the psonall right of Frances Hothersall his wife, the other hundred
acres in consideration of his transportacon of twoe of his children
out of England at his owne cost & charges, Viz: Richard Hothersall
and Mary Hothersall,
_To Have and to Hold_ the said twoe hundred acres of land with all
and singular the apptennces, and with his due share of all mines &
minneralls therein conteyned, and wth all rights and privileges of
hunting, hawking and fowling and others within the prcincts and
upon the borders of the said land, To the only pper use benifitt
and behoofe of the said Thomas Hothersall, his heires and assignes
for ever,
In as large and ample manner to all intents and purposes as is
specified in the said great charter or by consequences may justly
bee collected out of the same, or out of his Ma'ties letters
patents whereon it is grounded.
_Yeilding and paying_ to the treasurer and company and to their
successors for ever, yearely at the feast of St. Michael the
Archangell [September 29], for every fifty acres, the fee rent of
one shilling.
_In witness whereof_ I have to these presents sett my hand and
the great seale of the colony, given at James Citty the six and
twentieth day of January one thousand six hundred twenty one [o.s.]
and in the yeares of the raigne, of our Soveraigne Lord, James by
the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland,
Defender of the faith &c., Vizt: of England, France and Ireland the
nineteenth and of Scotland the five and fiftieth, and in the
fifteenth yeare of this plantacon.
Claiborne supervised most of the surveys included on the list of patents
that was drawn up by Governor Wyatt in 1625. Out of 184 patents that
were issued to individual planters, over seventy-five per cent included
only 200 acres or less with the most frequent grant being the 100-acre
grant to the "ancient planter." For the remaining individual grants,
approximately one-sixth were between 201 and 600 acres; four were
between 601 and 1,000 acres; and four exceeded 1,000 acres.
In an analysis of the status of the Virginia population with regard to
landholding at the time of the dissolution of the company in 1624,
Professor Manning C. Voorhis concluded that only about one-seventh of
the 1,240 population obtained land from the company. This would leave
the remainder of the settlers as indentured servants or tenant farmers
who worked out their maintenance or transportation either for the
company or for private individuals who financed their trip to America.
The tenant farmers constituted the larger group. In the chapter that
follows, some attention will be given to the status of these immigrants
and the extent to which they were able to become independent landowners
in the colony.
CHAPTER THREE
Virginia as a Royal Colony
The Nature and Size of Land Grants
A variety of reasons led the King to dissolve the London Company and to
assume royal control over the first experiment in colonization under an
incorporated company. Failure of the colony to thrive economically, the
poor financial condition of the company, political differences between
Sir Edwin Sandys and the King, internal dissensions between the Sandys
faction and the Smith-Warwick group, the extremely high death rate in
the colony, and the impact of the Indian massacre of 1622--all
contributed in varying degrees of importance to the dissolution. The
company rejected efforts of the crown to substitute a new charter drawn
up in 1623 providing for the King to resume control of the colony by
establishing a royal Council in England and a Governor and Council in
Virginia. Consequently the Privy Council obtained a writ of _quo
warranto_ which terminated with a decision by the court of King's Bench
in May, 1624, annulling the charter of the company.
With the advent of royal control there was a significant continuity in
practice in the colony, and the political framework was little changed.
The Governor and Council were then appointed by the King, but the House
of Burgesses continued without major revision. In order to assure
continued respect for public authority, a royal commission was
dispatched to Governor Wyatt and an eleven-man Council empowering them
to act "as fully and ampley as anie Governor and Councell resident there
at anie tyme within the space of five yeares now last past." A similar
commission was issued to Sir George Yeardley in 1626, and for the next
sixteen years royal instructions to the Governors reflected a striking
resemblance.
A similar continuity was evident in economic affairs as revealed in land
policy. The London Company as a corporate body in charge of the colony
terminated in 1624 after eighteen years, and the following year after
the death of King James I the colony of Virginia by proclamation was
made a part of the royal demesne. The landholder in Virginia became then
in effect a freehold tenant of the King. The rights and property of the
company were taken over by the crown, but recognition was made of the
private property right of the planter and of individual claims of those
who had invested in the company. Even land rights to planters and
adventurers that had not been taken up were recognized, but few
proceeded to effect settlement or to exercise the right of taking up 100
acres per share of stock.
The land rights of the private joint-stock associations also continued
to be recognized, but there was less enthusiasm on the part of
individual adventurers to promote the projects started some years
earlier. This development was indicative of the major change in the
economic life of the colony that resulted in the decline, if not
disappearance, of absentee ownership. As previously noted, Berkeley
Hundred had suffered the loss of many of its settlers in the massacre of
1622; and upon expiration of term of service of the few remaining
servants, only the land and a few cattle were left in the settlement. By
1636 the adventurers had sold their claims to London merchants. In the
case of Martin's Hundred located about seven miles from Jamestown, the
massacre doomed the active settlement and only the title to the land
continued. Eventually the title to this hundred was withdrawn to permit
natural expansion of the colony, and the associates or adventurers were
awarded claims to land allotments commensurate with the number of shares
held in the joint stock.
The tracts known as company land were maintained for a while under royal
control. The role of the public estate, however, never assumed great
significance, yet there is evidence of the continued practice during the
seventeenth century of endowing an office such as Governor or secretary
with the proceeds of a land grant.
Theoretically tenants and contract laborers who were still alive at the
time of the dissolution of the company were to continue their labor
either on the public land or on private associations. In practice,
however, it is likely that lax enforcement of the contracts resulted in
a substantial diminution of the obligations of many workers. The
scarcity of records for this period makes it impossible to trace all of
this group, but there is enough evidence to indicate that some continued
to serve out their term of labor. The General Court in 1627 expressed
concern about the approaching expiration of leases and indentures of
persons for whom there were no provisions for lands; and action was
taken to permit them to lease land for a period of ten to twenty-one
years in return for which they were to render a stipulated amount of
tobacco or corn for each acre, usually one pound of tobacco per acre.
This lenient provision notwithstanding, only about sixty persons availed
themselves of the opportunity, the remainder presumably either squatting
on frontier land, working as laborers, or eventually obtaining title to
land by purchase from an original patentee.
With the dissolution of the company the issuing of land patents
continued in the hands of the Governor and Council. The King and Privy
Council assumed power over land distribution but apparently left the
issuing of patents as it had been before. Up until January, 1625,
Governor Wyatt issued patents in the name of the company. At that time
news reached Virginia that the writ of _quo warranto_ of June, 1624,
had dissolved the company and that King James I upon assumption of
control of the colony had issued on August 26, 1624, the first
commission of a royal Governor to Wyatt. But the commission made no
reference to land grants, and Governor Wyatt issued none after January,
1625.
Charles I succeeded to the throne following the death of James I on
March 27, 1625. His proclamation stating policy relative to Virginia
professed protection of the interests of private planters and
adventurers but made no direct reference to land grants. Governor
Yeardley replaced Wyatt by a commission of March 14, 1625/26 and arrived
in Virginia in May, 1626. There is no record extant to show that
Yeardley received direct instructions to start issuing grants; but it is
certain that he did begin in February, 1626/27, interpreting his
instructions and commission as authorizing the action.
Land patents during this period were to be issued on four main
conditions: (1) as a dividend in return for investment in the founding
of the colony; (2) as a reward for special service to the colony; (3) as
a stimulus to fortify the frontier by using land to induce settlement;
and (4) as a method of encouraging immigration by the headright.
The first of these was simply an assurance by the King that the former
stockholders in the company still had the right to take up land at the
rate of 100 acres for each share of stock owned. As late as 1642 this
privilege was still being confirmed in instructions to the Governor; but
the stockholders appeared to be little interested at this time in coming
to Virginia, for very few took up their claim and apparently the shares
bearing the holder's name could not be transferred after the
dissolution. The plan for the distribution of the first dividend in 1619
also provided for a second allotment. As late as 1632 patents still
included authorization for a second dividend when the first had been
cultivated. But no second allotment was ever made. There are, however,
examples to indicate that claims for the first dividend were upheld
after the company was dissolved. In 1628 Thomas Graies obtained a patent
as a dividend for his subscription of twenty-five pounds sterling; in
1636 Captain John Hobson was issued a patent covering a bill of
adventure that went back to 1621; and on another occasion the land
dividend due a deceased father was awarded to his son.
The next condition of awarding patents for meritorious service to the
colony was of long standing. Used to award ministers, political
officials, physicians, sea captains, and various other individuals under
the company, the practice continued under royal control after 1624.
Governor Wyatt in 1638 was instructed to issue land patents for
meritorious service according to provisions previously adopted for such
cases. And a few years later Charles II awarded lands in Virginia to
servants or others who aided him, although it is not certain whether
these individuals were ever able to take up the claim bestowed upon
them.
The third condition for a patent was practically a corollary to the
second, for it involved rendering service to the colony by settling and
fortifying the frontier. One example during this period may be found in
securing the Peninsula. Following the massacre of 1622 Governor Wyatt
and his Council wrote to the Earl of Southampton about a plan for
"winning the forest" by running a pale between Martin's Hundred on the
James River and Cheskiack on the York. Again in 1624 the suggestion was
made to the royal commissioners who were sent over by the King to
determine the most suitable places for fortification. To effect the
construction of this palisade, the General Assembly in 1633 offered land
as an inducement to settle between Queen's Creek and Archer's Hope
Creek, promising fifty acres and a period of tax exemption to freemen
who would occupy the area of Middle Plantation, later Williamsburg. In
February, 1633, the order was issued for a fortieth part of the men in
the "compasse of the forest" between the two previously mentioned creeks
and Chesapeake Bay to meet at Dr. John Pott's plantation at the head of
Archer's Hope Creek for the purpose of erecting houses to secure the
neck of land known as the Peninsula. With this encouragement by the
Assembly, a palisade six miles in length was completed, running from
Queen's Creek to Archer's Hope Creek and passing through Middle
Plantation. Houses were constructed at convenient distances, and a
sufficient number of men were assigned to patrol the line of defense
during times of imminent danger. By setting off a little less than
300,000 acres of land, this palisade provided defense for the new
plantations between the York and James rivers and served as a
restraining barrier for the cattle of the colony.
Granting of land was again used on a large scale for the establishment
of forts after the Indian massacre of 1644. By order of the Assembly in
1645 blockhouses or forts were established at strategic points: Fort
Charles at the falls of the James River, Fort Royal at Pamunkey, Fort
James on the ridge of Chickahominy on the north side of the James, and
in the next year Fort Henry at the falls of the Appomattox River. The
maintenance of these forts involved considerable expense, more than the
officials of the colony wished to drain from the public treasury.
Therefore, they decided to grant the forts with adjoining lands to
individuals who would accept the responsibility of their upkeep as well
as the maintenance of an adequate force for defense. Fort Henry, located
at present-day Petersburg, was granted to Captain Abraham Wood with 600
acres of land plus all houses, edifices, boats, and ammunition belonging
to the fort. Wood was required to maintain and keep ten persons
continuously at the fort for three years. During this time he was
exempted from all public taxes for himself and the ten persons. Upon
similar terms Lieutenant Thomas Rolfe, son of Pocahontas and John Rolfe,
received Fort James and 400 acres of land; Captain Roger Marshall, Fort
Royal and 600 acres. Since there was no arable land adjoining Fort
Charles at present-day Richmond, other inducements were made for its
maintenance. These forts served as the first line of defense against
possible attacks by the natives. Being the center of the varied
activities of the frontier, they also were the starting point for
expeditions against the Indians and became the center of trade for the
outlying regions.
The fourth condition for granting of land--the headright--was by far the
most important and became the principal basis for title to land in the
seventeenth century. Its origin goes back to "the greate charter" of
1618 in which the following provision was included:
That for all persons ... which during the next seven years after
Midsummer Day 1618 shall go into Virginia with intent there to
inhabite If they continue there three years or dye after they are
shiped there shall be a grant made of fifty acres for every person
upon a first division and as many more upon a second division (the
first being peopled) which grants to be made respectively to such
persons and their heirs at whose charges the said persons going to
inhabite in Virginia shall be transported with reservation of twelve
pence yearly rent for every fifty acres to be answered to the said
treasurer and company and their successors for ever after the first
seven years of every such grant.
Under these provisions of "the greate charter," it is evident that not
only was the headright grant of fifty acres per person open to
shareholders who brought settlers to the colony, but also to anyone who
had migrated to the colony at his own expense or who had financed the
expedition of other persons. Individuals paying their own transportation
were entitled to fifty acres for themselves and for every member of the
family, providing they fulfilled the residence requirement of three
years.
Governors under the company issued patents based on the headright until
dissolution by the crown in 1624. Beyond that time the status of the
headright was uncertain. The "charter" of 1618 had specified a term for
this right for seven years ending on Midsummer Day of 1625. After this
term expired, royal governors continued to honor headright claims based
on immigration, although no direct authorization for such action had
come from the crown. Therefore, the issuance of these claims after 1625
was based primarily on custom, brief as it was, until more direct
instructions were issued to Governor John Harvey in 1634 following the
proprietary grant of Maryland in 1632.
The Maryland grant enhanced the concern of the Virginia inhabitants
about their title to land, and correspondence conducted by Governor
Harvey finally brought forth a statement from the Privy Council.
Apprehension over Maryland led to assurance of the headright for
Virginia as the Privy Council issued the following dispatch of July 22,
1634, to the Governor:
We have thought fit to certify you that his Majesty of his royal
favor, and for the better encouragement of the planters there doth
let you knowe that it is not intended that the interestes which men
had settled when you were a corporation should be impeached; that
for the present they may enjoy their estates and trades with the
same freedom and privileges as they did before the recalling of
their patents: To which purpose also in pursuance of his Majesty's
gracious intention, wee doe hereby authorize you to dispose of such
proportions of lands to all those planters beeing freemen as you had
power to doe before the yeare 1625.
With this explicit royal endorsement of land patent principles followed
under the company and confirmation of the headright, Governor Harvey
modified the wording in the patents and adopted the following form
illustrated in a grant of 2,500 acres to Captain Hugh Bullocke:
_To all to whome these prsents. shall come_, I Sr. John Harvey Kt.
Governr. and Capt. Generll. of Virginia send greeting in our Lord
God Everlasting.
_Whereas_ by letters pattents bearing date the twoe and twentieth
of July one thousand six hundred thirtie fower from the Rt. Honble.
the Lords of his Majties. most Honoble. Privie Councell their
lordshipps did authorize the Governr. and Councell of Virginia to
dispose of such pportions of land to all planters being freemen as
they had power to doe before the yeare 1625, whene according to
divers orders & constitutions in that case provided and appointed
all devidents of lands any waies due or belonging to any
adventurers or planters of what condicon soever were to bee laid
out and assigned unto them according to the severall condicons in
the same menconed.
_Now Know Yee_ therefore that I the said Sr. John Harvey doe, with
the consent of the Councell of State give and graunt unto Capt.
Hugh Bullocke and to his heires and assignes for ever by these
prsents
Twoe thousand five hundred and fiftie acres of land, scituate, lying
& being from the runn that falleth downe by the eastern side of a
peece of land knowne by the name of the Woodyard and soe from that
runn along the side of the Pocoson (or great Otter pond soe called)
northwest and about the head of the said Otter pond back southeast
leaveing the Otter pond in the middle.
_To have and to Hold_ the said twoe thousand five hundred and
fiftie acres of land with his due share of all mines and minneralls
therein conteyned and with all rights and priviledges of hunting,
hawking, fishing and fowling, wth in the prcincts of the same to
the sole and pper use benifitt and behoofe of him the said Capt.
Bullocke his heires and assignes for ever.
In as large and ample manner to all intents and purposes as is
expressed in the said orders and constitutions, or by consequence
may bee justly collected out of the same or out of his Majties.
letters pattents whereon they are grounded.
_Yielding and paying_ for every fiftie acres of land herein by
these presents given and graunted yearely at the feast of St.
Michaell the Archangell [September 29], the fee rent of one
shilling to his Majties. use.
_Provided always_ that [if] the said Capt. Hugh Bullock, his heires
or assignes shall not plant or seate or cause to bee planted on the
said twoe thousand five hundred & fiftie acres of land wth in the
time and terms of three yeares now next ensuing the date hereof,
that then it shall and may bee lawfull for any adventurer or
planter to make choice and seate upon the same.
_Given_ at James Citty under my hand and sealed with the seale of
the colony the twelfth day of March one thousand six hundred
thirtie fower [o.s.] & in the tenth year of our Soveraigne Lord
King Charles &c.
Use of the headright had been adopted by the company as an expedient to
increase population of the colony and to encourage immigration without
further expenditure from the company treasury. The practice continued
with the fifty acres of land granted to the persons who financed the
transportation of the immigrant, but the grant itself was not valuable
enough to compensate for the expense involved. Therefore, with
increasing frequency the system of indentured servitude was used whereby
the immigrant agreed to an indenture or contract to work a certain
number of years as additional payment for his transportation. This
system, in general, proved advantageous to both the master and the
servant, to the colony by providing additional immigrants, and to
England by serving as a vent for surplus population.
Indentured servants were not slaves but were servants during the
specified period of the contract. While the laws of the time did make a
distinction in the severity of the penal code as applied to servants and
to freemen, still indentured servitude did not have the stigma of
bondage or slavery; and many servants upon completion of their term of
service rose to positions of social and political prominence in the
history of the colony. In 1676 the Lords of Trade and Plantations
expressed concern over the use of the word "servitude" because of the
implications of slavery, and they preferred "to use the word service,
since those servants are only apprentices for years."