Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia

by Dorothy Margaret Torpey

In addition to naming the members of the Resident Council, the written instructions for the colonists provided that all the colonists should work for a "common store." This rule resulted in a great hardship because some of the physically able and capable colonists left the tasks of planting, building, and performing of additional necessary duties to others. Some of the colonists were gentlemen by profession, unaccustomed to hard physical labor, and interested mostly in finding gold or attaining a quick fortune and then returning to England. A majority of the colonists, however, worked hard and, after building a fort for protection, continued to construct a storehouse, a church and log huts for residences. The morale of the colonists became very low when the food supplies became scanty; diseases of fever and dysentery appeared due to the humid, marshy, mosquito-laden land area; and Indian attacks became common. With arrows tipped with deer's horn and with sharp stones, the Indians had shot at the colonists, severely injuring Captain Gabriel Archer and one of the sailors. However, the first large organized Indian attack occurred in the latter part of May when two hundred Indians attacked the settlers. They were finally driven back through the efforts of the colonists under the leadership of Captain Edward Maria Wingfield.

Captain John Smith, Captain Christopher Newport and twenty other settlers decided to explore the general area of the Jamestown region. From June to September, they journeyed the entire length of the Chesapeake Bay and they witnessed the eastern shore of the bay, the Potomac River, the Great Falls, the Susquehanna River, the Rappahannock River, the York River and the Chesapeake River. Smith carefully drew a map of the entire area and called it a "Map of the Chesapeake." He sent it to England via Captain Newport, and it was later published in London.

The courage and persistent hard work of the settlers and the leadership of Captain John Smith were invaluable. Captain John Smith maintained harmony in the Council, encouraged friendly relations with the Indians (eventually to the extent of getting corn, an absolute necessity, from them) and changed the "common store" policy to a "no work-no eat" policy which had most effective results on the indolent settlers. In 1608, he wrote a fascinating narration about the founding of the Virginia Colony which he entitled "A True Relation." He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Virginia" because of his participation in so many activities: a governmental official (president of the Council from September 1608 to September 1609), a diplomat in his relations with the Indians, a leader in attempting to maintain peaceful, cooperative relations among the settlers themselves, an observing prisoner of the Indians (during which time he learned much of their culture and experienced the miraculous saving of his life by the Indian girl, Pocahontas) and a writer who tried to picture the happenings of the settlers in an enjoyable fashion.

In addition to saving Smith's life, Pocahontas helped the Virginia settlers by having corn and venison brought to them and, later, by warning John Smith of a proposed Indian attack. After John Smith returned to England, Pocahontas stopped visiting the colony, and the Indians soon refused to bring any more corn to the colonists. Pocahontas was eventually captured by a Jamestown settler, Captain Samuel Argall, through the trickery of an Indian who betrayed her in return for a "copper Kettle and some trinkets." She was held as a hostage in Jamestown in an effort to restore peace between the Indians and the English. This strategy was so successful that friendly relations were re-established. Two years later, in April, 1614, Pocahontas married John Rolfe, an English gentleman, at the Jamestown Church. Pocahontas had met and had become well acquainted with John Rolfe during her captivity at Jamestown. She had been baptized at the Jamestown Church and had been given the name of Rebecca. They lived for a while at Jamestown and then at Varina, Rolfe's plantation. Three years after their marriage, Rebecca and John and their baby, Thomas, age one, traveled to England, accompanied by approximately a dozen Indians who desired to be educated in England. Rebecca was received royally at the court, and she was so well-mannered and charming that this lady who had grown up in the wilderness of Virginia was readily accepted by London Society. When Captain John Smith heard of her arrival in England, he informed Queen Anne of the great help furnished to the Virginia Colony by this Indian maiden during her youth. Pocahontas then became Lady Rebecca and remained in England for over a year. As they were getting ready to return to Virginia, Lady Rebecca died suddenly and was buried in St. George's Church at Gravesend, England. Today, two beautiful stained-glass windows may be seen in this church, a gift of the Colonial Dames of Virginia, as a token of gratitude for services rendered to the Colony of Virginia by Princess Pocahontas.

John Ratcliffe and Captain John Smith succeeded to the presidency of the council after Captain Wingfield. While Smith was president of the council, King James I granted another charter for Virginia in 1609 upon the reorganization of the London Company. This charter provided that: (1) the area of Virginia was henceforth to include all the land on its eastern coast 200 miles north and 200 miles south of Old Point Comfort and extending from the Atlantic Ocean west and northwest to the Pacific Ocean; therefore, Virginia included at this time land now found in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota; (2) a Resident Council was to be established which would have the power to distribute land, make all laws and appoint all officers for Virginia's government; membership in the council was to result from election by the members of the company in England, a majority vote being required for the election; and (3) the colonists were to take the Oath of Supremacy making the Church of England the only recognized church of the colony.

In the same year, Captain John Smith bought a tract of land located near Richmond from the Indian Chief, Powhatan, and there he founded a settlement which he called "None Such." He named it thus because he believed there was "none such" site as scenically beautiful anywhere. This site was formerly Emperor Powhatan's summer court location.

In the same year also Thomas West, Lord de la Warr (Delaware), became the "Lord Governor and Captaine Generall" of the Virginia colony. Although he held this office until June 1618, he remained in England during this time because of ill health with the exception of the period June 1610-March 1611. In May 1610, Sir Thomas Gates, the first Governor of the colony of Virginia, arrived at Jamestown. Captain George Percy had succeeded Captain Smith as president of the Council. Starvation from a lack of food supplies followed, and the population of the colony was reduced from 500 to 60 people. These sixty were approximately fourteen miles away from Jamestown on their way back to England when some of Lord de la Warr's ships arrived bringing food and fifty additional settlers. Lord de la Warr was responsible also for having a trading post established at Hampton. Today, Hampton is the oldest continuous Anglo-Saxon settlement still in existence in the United States.

A short time later, Sir Thomas Dale (better known as "Marshall") arrived from England as Governor of the colony. He was considered a harsh Governor because his martial law administration was characterized by severe punishment for wrongdoing. However, he was responsible for having common property divided among the colonists and for allowing them to own their shares privately. He ordered that three acres of land be given to every man. In return for this land, the owner was required to give six bushels of corn each year to the colony. The owner then was allowed to keep the rest of his crops, two acres of which had to be planted in corn before any tobacco could be raised. This action was the first official recognition of the right of owning property in America and such action resulted in much more industrious efforts put forth on the part of the new owners.

In 1611, Sir Thomas Dale founded the third settlement in Virginia: Henricopolis or the City of Henricus (named for the eldest son of King James I, Prince Henry). Approximately 350 settlers, mostly German laborers, soon colonized there. Two years later, Governor Dale was also responsible for a settlement being established at the site of the junction of the Appomattox and James Rivers. It was called New Bermuda or Bermuda Hundred because of its similarity to the British Island of Bermuda. For many years this settlement served as a convenient shipping point and the present city of Hopewell is an outgrowth of this early site.

In 1612, a third charter was granted by King James I for the Virginia Colony. This was a most liberal charter as it abolished the Superior Council and gave full governing powers of the colony directly to the London Company members, thus making the company a self-governing corporation. The name was changed from the London Company to the Virginia Company. The company was to hold four meetings each year in London, and these meetings were called meetings of the General Court or "Quarter Courts." At such meetings, the officers were to be elected by the stockholders and the laws of the colony were to be passed. The General Court also had the power to manage the business of the company and to appoint the Governor and councillors for the Virginia colony. The charter extended the eastern seaboard boundary to include the Bermudas and, in addition, gave the company the authority to hold lotteries for its own benefit.