Old Virginia and Her Neighbours, Vol. 2 (of 2)

by John Fiske

[47] The acts of this assembly, known as “Bacon’s Laws,” are given in Hening’s Statutes, ii. 341-365.

[48] “It is still their boast that they are the descendants of Powhatan’s warriors. A good evidence of their present laudable ambition is an application recently made by them for a share in the privileges of the Hampton schools. These bands of Indians are known by two names: the larger band is called the Pamunkeys (120 souls); the smaller goes by the name of the Mattaponies (50). They are both governed by chiefs and councillors, together with a board of white trustees chosen by themselves.” Hendren, “Government and Religion of the Virginia Indians,” Johns Hopkins Univ. Studies, xiii. 591.

[49] In 1656 a tribe called Ricahecrians, about 700 in number, from beyond the Blue Ridge, had advanced eastward as far as the falls of the James River, where they encountered and defeated Hill and Totapotamoy. After this the Ricahecrians may have retraced their steps westward; we hear no more of them on the Atlantic seaboard.

[50] The original MS. of the manifesto is in the British State Paper Office. It is printed in full in the Virginia Magazine, i. 55-61.

[51] The original is in the Colonial Entry Book, lxxi. 232-240. It is printed in G. B. Goode’s Virginia Cousins; a Study of the Ancestry and Posterity of John Goode, of Whitby, Richmond, 1887, pp. 30^A-30^D. A brief summary is given in Doyle’s Virginia, p. 251.

[52] Bacon’s neighbour and adherent, William Byrd, purchaser of the Westover estate, and father of William Byrd the historian.

[53] Bacon’s allusion is to the troubles in North Carolina which broke out during the governorship of George Carteret and were chiefly due to the Navigation Act. See below, p. 280; and as to Maryland, see p. 156.

[54] One of these ladies is said to have been the wife of the elder Nathaniel Bacon!

[55] “A True Narrative of the Rise, Progresse, and Cessation of the Late Rebellion in Virginia, most humbly and impartially reported by his Majestyes Commissioners appointed to enquire into the Affairs of the said Colony,” [Winder Papers, Virginia State Library], reprinted in Virginia Magazine, iv. 117-154.

[56] “Persons who suffered by Bacon’s Rebellion; Commissioners Report,” [Winder Papers], reprinted in Virginia Magazine, v. 64-70. See, also, the extracts from the Westmoreland County records, in William and Mary College Quarterly, ii. 43.