Jr. Charles E. Hatch

“ In the first seventeen years, despite hardship, suffering, death, discouragement and defeats, a great deal had been accomplished in Virginia. The colonists, some of whom had already become "ancient planters," had met and learned many of the ways of the wilderness and the new environment. They had learned to survive and had gained knowledge of the country's advantages and disadvantages and its nature and extent. After many false starts, a source of wealth had been found in tobacco. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 [Pg 13] of the Spanish. Too often the reality of the ever present Spanish threat to Virginia is overlooked. ”

“ 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." ”

“ It was on March 22, 1622 that the great catastrophe struck Virginia in the form of the well planned and carefully executed massacre by the Indians under the crafty leadership of Opechancanough, successor to Powhatan. Although the consequences were not enough to threaten the survival of the Colony, they were deeply serious. At least a fourth, if not a third, of all residents lay dead at the end of a single day. ”

“ 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, [Pg 14] 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ John Proctor was among those who came to Virginia under a Company Charter in the 1609-15 period. It would appear that he located a plantation well up the James River, on its south side, but below Falling Creek. The land list of 1625 specified that he had a 200 acre grant in this vicinity. Perhaps, he was established here well before the massacre. When the Indians descended on his place, he must have been away, for his wife stood her ground as she did later when the Colony officials sought to force her to vacate the now isolated post. ”

“ This list makes it crystal clear that supplying Virginia was both a costly and time consuming operation. It is clear, too, that [Pg 118] supplies were of the nature that encouraged permanent colonization and residence in Virginia. Those Englishmen who founded the Colony took as much of the English way of life with them as was possible be it personal or political rights and freedom, books, food, clothing, utensils, or working tools. ”

“ The census of 1625 named fourteen persons as constituting the settlement of Archer's Hope which then extended to the east as well as to the west of the creek bearing the same name. Each of the four major entries showed a single house although there must have been more than this in aggregate. On a population basis the amount of arms and armor available would indicate that, perhaps, the community had a military cast. Food supplies were about normal, yet no livestock is shown except eight hogs which included "piggs" as well. ”

“ The Indian massacre was disastrous to the Warrascoyack settlement. More than 50 men and women were slain "at Mr. Edward Bennett's Plantation" including the commander "Master Th: Brewood, his wife, his childe, two servants." Perhaps, the Indians remembered the fall of 1610 when Edward Brewster and Samuel Argall fell upon their Chief and burned two of his townes accusing him of "acting falsely." There had been no hint of destruction when the Indians returned "one Browne" two days before the onslaught. Browne had been living with them to learn their language. ”

“ Samuel Mathews, long time a councilor in Virginia beginning in 1624, first came to Virginia, it appears, in 1620. In November, 1622 there is reference to a patent granted to him for undertaking to transport 100 persons to the Colony. About a month later he seems to have been interested in Captain Powell's cleared ground across the water from Jamestown. Mathews evidently seated on it and Powell loaned him "the howses of the upper fort for the use of his servants." ”

“ By 1624 the Colony had grown from a single settlement at Jamestown to a series of communities along the James River and on the Eastern Shore. Until 1611 only Jamestown had proven lasting. In this fourth year, however, Kecoughtan (Elizabeth City) was established on a permanent basis and Henrico was laid out. In 1613 the fourth of the Company settlements was established at Bermuda which was to become Charles City. For five years the center of population passed up river. The area in the "Curls" of the James for a time was the preferred location. ”

“ One of the most informative ways, perhaps, to get an idea of daily living in early Virginia is to read, and study, a list of the household, personal and general objects which were sent to the Colony. One of the most detailed such lists that has been preserved is one that itemizes the cargo sent in the ship, Supply, which left England in September, 1620, bound for Berkeley Hundred. This is given in digest below. It is adapted from the list in the Smith of Nibley Papers and is available in published form in the Bulletin of the New York Public Library, III, No. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.
[Pg 12] 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. ”

“ Weldon thought the land to be excellent; "a goodly heritage beinge as pleasant & fruitfull a soile as any this land yeeldeth." It troubled him, however, that two of the best locations were already claimed and planted: one by [Pg 55] Mathews, "for the use of Sir Thomas Midleton & Alderman Johnson," and one by Thomas Dowse. Both were by virtue of grants from Argall. He knew, too, that he needed more men and more supplies. In the meanwhile Virginia's first assembly had endorsed the idea of the "University and Colledge" and asked that it be pushed to fulfillment. ”

“ 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. ”

“ John, all brothers and each at one time governor of Virginia, were established here. Two persons were killed at each of their plantations, "at Westover, about a mile from Berkley Hundred." In the Assembly of 1624 Westover sent its representative to the Assembly at Jamestown in the person of Samuel Sharpe. This being the case, it is difficult to explain the absence of the plantation from the list of 1624 and the muster of 1625. In the May, 1625 land tabulation, there is a single entry which reads "Att Westover 500 acres claymed by Captaine Francis West." ”

“ 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 began as a device, a good one it proved to be, used by the Company to stimulate immigration and settlement in Virginia. It allowed any person who paid his own way to the Colony to receive fifty acres for his own "personal adventure." In addition he could collect fifty acres for each person whose passage he paid. If a person brought himself and three others, for example, he could claim 200 acres under this arrangement. ”

“ Smith was here again in the summer of 1608 and in the following winter always being well received and refreshed before leaving. There is clear evidence that the first post established by the Colonists for trade with the Indians was here where Indians and whites lived together in some number. When, however, Humphry Blunt out of Fort Algernourne, that is Old Point Comfort, was killed by Indians at Nansemond, Sir Thomas Gates used the opportunity to punish the Indians by driving the Kecoughtans away from their cornfields and fishing grounds. ”

“ Elizabeth City began on the site of an Indian village on the west side of Hampton Creek and was known by its Indian name of Kecoughtan for a decade. The English first saw this spot on May 1, 1607 when the three ships moved over from Cape Henry. The friendly Indians welcomed the shore party and took them to their village of some 18 houses of twigs and bark and twenty fighting men where there was food, a friendly smoke, and entertainment. ”

“ Sir George Yeardley, recently knighted, returned to Virginia as Governor, in April 1619, and was the first spokesman in the Colony for the new policy toward Virginia. In England it had been ably advanced on behalf of the Colony by Sir Edwin Sandys, the Earl of Southampton, and John and Nicholas Ferrar.
Land was one of the great sources of wealth in Virginia and soon after early commercial enterprise failed, was recognized as such. ”

“ As might be expected from its proximity, a number of the residents of the "Neck-of-Land" had property also at Jamestown or in the Island.
The 1625 muster listings included six houses, a boat, twenty-six and a half barrels of corn as well as some "flesh," fish, and meal. Livestock embraced eleven cattle and thirty-one hogs, "yong & old." There was only one "armour" and two "coats of male" yet [Pg 110] small arms, shot and powder were in greater supply. The General Court records offer an occasional glimpse of life here in these years. ”

“ It appears to have been a determined lot of "ancient adventurers" who sponsored Martin's Hundred and the record indicates that they worked hard and zealously to make it a paying organization. They were, however, often beset with difficulties. Shipmasters and mariners abused them as did the "Capemarchant," according to their reports. When they sought Company shares to sustain losses in one shipment to Virginia, Sir Edwin Sandys reminded them that they were a particular group. ”

“ Crowder came to Virginia in 1619 and became interested in a group ground clearing project across the water as early as April, 1622. He reported that "six of his family did help to cleere that grounde." In this he was joined by Captain William Powell, Richard Pace, William Perry, Richard Richards and Thomas Garses.
In 1625 Crowder was living on land here that earlier had been claimed by Captain John Hurleston who exchanged it about Christmas time in 1620 with Captain William Powell. At the time of the census of 1625 Crowder's Plantation evidently was a small one. ”

“ Bargrave "relying upon the said patent of Martin" proceeded to furnish the "Edwyn of London with men and wares of good value fit for the said plantation, and sent the same with the said Captain Martin into Virginia." Martin left England in April, 1617 on the Edwin, "a barke of very good sayle" and reached Virginia in May just after Argall who had come as governor.
Bargrave had been hopeful of trading with Martin's Brandon and transporting more colonists, yet Argall, to support the Colony, compelled the Edwin to remain in Virginia for almost a year and to be used in the Colony and on the coast. ”

“ This then was the Virginia of 1625—a settled area embracing the James River basin and the lower part of the Eastern Shore. It was very rural with the people busy about the task of developing a new land. ”

“ The Indians swept down on the ironworks community and left twenty-seven dead as well as considerable destruction to the works. The dead included John Berkeley, a mason, two wives, three children and "Joseph Fitch Apothecary to Doctor Pots." This was the end of the project although the Company demonstrated, for a time, its intention to resume this work which was considered basic for the Colony's welfare. The Virginia Governor and Council would have reinforced the survivors, they reported, if "soe many of the principall worke men had not beene slaine." ”