SIR THOMAS DALE AND MILITARY LAW.
In May, Sir Thomas Dale, on military leave from his post in the Low Countries, arrived as deputy governor of Virginia. He proceeded to give form and substance to the martial law which had been evoked by his predecessors. It led to rather complete regimentation, and he was severely criticized for it later, particularly by those hostile to his administration. He began by posting proclamations “for the publique view” at Jamestown. Later, he thoroughly inspected suitable settlement sites and surveyed conditions generally. He wrote, on May 25, 1611, that on arrival at Jamestown he found “... no corn sett, some few seeds put into a private garden or Two; but the cattle, cows, goats, swine, Poultry &c to be well and carefully on all hands preserved and all in good plight and likeing.” To get things in order at the seat of government, one party was designated to repair the church, another to work on the stable, another to build a wharf. When things were reasonably well in hand at Jamestown, he made plans to push the decision to open a new settlement above Jamestown which 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, poor drinking water, too much marsh, and a location not far enough upstream to be out of reach of the Spanish.
JAMESTOWN, 1611-16.
Under Dale, from May 1611 to 1616, and under Gates who replaced him for several years, beginning in August 1611, the emphasis was away from Jamestown, but the capital was not actually moved.
In 1612, “Master George Percie ... [was busy] with the keeping of Jamestown” while much of the colony had been “moved up river.” The first settlement was then looked upon as chiefly a place of safety for hogs and cattle. In 1614, it was made up of “two faire rowes of howses, all of framed Timber, two stories, and an vpper Garret or Corne loft high, besides three large, and substantiall Storehowses ioyned togeather in length some hundred and twenty foot, and in breadth forty ... this town hath been lately newly, and strongly impaled, and a faire platforme for Ordnance in the west Bulworke raised.” Without the town “... in the Island [were] some very pleasant, and beutifull howses, two Blockhouses ... and certain other farme howses.” In 1616, it was a post of 50 under the command of Lt. John Sharpe, who was acting in the absence of Capt. Francis West. Thirty-one of these were “farmors” and all maintained themselves with “food and rayment.”
The Gates-Dale 5-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 one. Martial law brought order and uniformity in operations and compelled the people to go to work. Dale saw to it that corn was planted and harvested and that the laws were observed. He made peace with the Indians.
So effective were Dale’s measures that one of his contemporaries, John Rolfe, wrote “whereupon a peace was concluded, which still continues so firme, that our people yearlely plant and reape quietly, and travell in the woods a fowling and a hunting as freely and securely from danger or treacherie as in England. The great blessings of God have followed this peace, and it, next under him, hath bredd our plentie....” All this was accomplished when the fortunes of the Virginia Company were at a low point and little support was being sent to the colony. John Rolfe then went on to predict that Dale’s “worth and name ... will out last the standing of this plantation....”
Martial law, strictly administered at first, was gradually relaxed in application as conditions stabilized, and within a few years Dale took the step of granting 3-acre plots to private men for their enjoyment outside of the common store. This was a big step in the evolution of the private ownership of land. In the beginning, ownership was communal and company controlled. In 1609, a future division of both land and profits was anticipated, but it was about 1619 before individual grants were made. A part of this evolution was the headright system of acquisition, whereby persons were rewarded for venturing to Virginia themselves, or their capital. Dale’s grants of a semiprivate nature, about 1615, were a step in this evolution as well. The headright system which developed at Jamestown and on the banks of the James was later adapted in other colonies and continued in use for generations.
Gates and Dale in their administration had the help of other enterprising and daring early Virginians. There was Capt. Samuel Argall whose later work as governor of the colony has sometimes been criticized, especially his handling of the company finances. This should not becloud his earlier helpfulness in getting Virginia established. He pioneered in making a direct crossing of the Atlantic to save time and to avoid the Spanish, who now were fearful that the Virginia enterprise might succeed and were sending spies to Virginia. (Some of these spies were captured and interned at Jamestown.) Argall led in exploration, both in Virginia waters and northward along the coastline. He was adept at shipbuilding and in the Indian trade. It was evidently he who discovered the best fishing seasons and the fact that the fish made “runs” in the bay and in the rivers. He made an open attack on the French settlements to the north in New England and Nova Scotia, returning to Jamestown with his captives.