The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624 Part 1

The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624.

by Charles E. Hatch.

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 acc.u.mulated 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 G.o.d 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, a.s.sumed 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 pa.s.sage of years. Quite naturally the settlers brought with them their church and reverence for G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 ash.o.r.e 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portrait from John Smith's _General History_ (London, 1624). Courtesy of the Tracy W. McGregor Library, University of Virginia.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "James Fort" built in May and June, 1607--_A painting by Sidney King for Colonial National Historical Park._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Arrival of the Settlers at Jamestown on May 13, 1607.

English Merchantmen of the size and date of the _G.o.dspeed_ 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._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Worship at Cape Henry on April 29, 1607 as depicted by Stephen Reid. _Courtesy of the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "The Cooper" as he may have worked in early Jamestown. _A painting by Sidney King for Colonial National Historical Park._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: A winter scene suggestive of life on Jamestown Island about 1625. _From a painting by Sidney King for Colonial National Historical Park._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 _G.o.dspeed_ 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 sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.es 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 ident.i.ty 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 ash.o.r.e 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 ash.o.r.e 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 a.s.sociates.

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 b.a.l.l.s 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 princ.i.p.al 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 ash.o.r.e 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 t.i.tular 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.