USA > North Carolina > The history of North Carolina from the earliest period, Volume I > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
The council in England being very intent on the dis- covery of a passage to the south sea, as the certain and infallible way to rich mines of gold, directed the colonists to enter and sail up every navigable stream, and if any of them happened to have two main branches, and the difference was not great, to follow that which led to the north-west, it being imagined that the Pacific ocean would probably be sooner reached in that direction. They particularly desired that notice should be taken, whether the rivers they examined sprang from the moun- tains or a lake, as, in the latter case, a passage to the op- posite sea would be more easily attained, and out of the same lake, streams might be found, flowing in a contrary direction.
The flotilla took its departure from Blackwell on the 19th of December, sailing by the way of the Canary and the West India islands. Some time was spent in tra- ding with seaports, and the continent was not reached till the 26th of April. The names of cape Henry and cape Charles were given to the promontories through which they entered the bay of Chesapeake, in honor of Henry, prince of Wales, and Charles, duke of York, his brother, who afterwards succeeded to the British crown. A party of twenty persons landed on cape Henry, where they were met by five Indians, who wounded two of them dangerously, and fied to the woods.
In the evening the packet, which contained the list of the councillors and the orders of the company, was
-
I
57
THE THIRD.
1007]
opened and read. It appeared that Edward M. Wing- field, Bartholomew Gosnold, John Smith, Christopher Newport, John Radcliffe, John Martin, and John Ken. dal, were appointed of the council : Wingfield was ap- ' pointed president.
The colonial council, a few days after, fixed on a pen. insula on the north side of a river, which the natives called Powhatan, and to which the name of James river was now given, in honor of the king, for the spot on which the habitations of the colonists were to be erected, and dignified it with the name of Jamestown, a name which it still retains; and although it never was, nor is likely ever to be remarkable for population, commerce or wealth, it will long boast of being the most ancient settlement of the whites in the United States.
The site was advantageous, and eminently so, when compared to the shoaly and dangerous coasts, on which chance had thrown the first French and English adven- turers on the continent. A happy situation, as well as a valuable one; yet it was not sufficiently advantageous to insure the prosperity of the colony. Animosities had arisen among some of the principal colonists during their long voyage, and had not finished with it. The colonial council had begun its operations by an act of injustice, in excluding John Smith from a seat at their bord. The colony suffered much from the loss of the advantages, which it had reason to expect from his influence and ac- tivity. Appeased, however, some time after, by the exhortations of Mr. Hunt, their chaplain, the council admitted the excluded member, who receiving his com- mission the next day, they all turned their undivided attention to the government of a colony "feeble in
N. CARO, 8
58
CHAFTER [1607
numbers and enterprise, which was thus planted in discord, and grew up in misery."
Newport and Smith were now sent with twenty men, to reconnoitre the stream, upon which the colonists had fixed their residence. On the sixth day, they reached an Indian town, called Powhatan, consisting of about twelve houses, pleasantly situated on a hill, a little below the spot on which the city of Richmond now stands ; it was the principal and hereditary seat of Powhatan, emperor of the country, who had given his name to the town and river.
The council had judged it best to forbear any thing like military parade, even to admit any other kind of for- tification, than a few logs placed together in the shape of a half moon. The natives soon came to visit the new comers, and at first manifested none but friendly disposi- tions ; and the latter endeavored, by a kind and hospitable reception, to encourage an intercourse. But the In- dians soon began to manifest a quite different temper ; a party of the English, as has been said, had gone up the river ; others were scattered in the woods, exploring the ground, or procuring clapboards, and other timber for louding the ships. The Indians came into town, and fell on the few whites who had been left there, and were quietly employed in building and gardening; and killed a boy, wounded seventeen men, and retired into the thickets, frightened by a cross-bar shot, which shattered to pieces a huge tree, near which several of them stood. This event excited the caution of the council; they caused the fortification to be surrounded by a pallisade, the ordnance to be mounted, and the men to be regularly trained and exercised.
On the return of the party sent up the river, John Smith marched against the Indians, and compelled them to sue for peace.
59
THE THIRD. .
1607]
On the 16th of June, Newport and Nelson sailed for England with the two ships, leaving one hundred colo- nists in Jamestown. They did not bear well the scorch- ing heat of summer; they sickened in the fall, ard were reduced low; in consequence of the ill supply of pro- visions, they were put on a very scanty allowance, and the little food they had, was of a very inferior quality. Penury, excessive heat, the moisture of the air, in a coun. try covered with woods, generated disease; one half of the colonists feil its victims before the end of Septem- ber ; the survivors, dispirited and famished, sought their subsistence in crabs and sturgeons.
Wingfield was considered as the author of the dis- tresses of the colony, by his embezzlement and waste of its stores. The indignation of the colonists was raised to the highest pitch, by the discovery of a project for de- serting them, and returning to England in the bark, which he was on the eve of effecting. He was deposed, with one of the council, who had engaged to accompany him.
John Radcliffe was chosen president, in his room. The new administrator was not remarkable, either for wisdom or activity. but he was unassuming, and con- fiding in the advice of John Smith, a man who, with an undoubted courage and indefatigable activity, possessed a strong judgment, permitted him to direct the affairs of the colony under him.
Smith immediately adopted the only plan that could save the whites. He surrounded the town with fortifi- cations, rude indeed, but sufficient to resist the enemy against which they were raised. He next marched with a small party, and alternately resorting to promises and threats, to caresses and violence, induced or compelled
60
CHAPTER
[160]
the neighboring tribes of Indians to yield him a supply of provisions. In one of his expeditions afterwards, he was attacked by a numerous party of savages, and being compelled to retreat. fell up to the neck in a swamp, and Was made a prisoner. He engaged, for some time, the attention of his captors, with a compass dial, which he happened to have about him ; they wondered at the play of the fly and needie, which the glass hindered them from touching. without preventing them from seeing it; he excited their surprise and veneration. by the wonderful accounts he gave them of its utility, so as to interest them in his favor. `They however bound, and triumph- antly led him to Powhatan, their chief, by whose orders he was about to be put to death, when Pocahonta, the chieftain's favorite daughter, rushed between him and his executioners. and by her entreaties and tears, pre- vailed on her father to spare the captive's life, and soon after to liberate him.
The store house at Jamestown, thatched with reeds, taking fire by accident, burned with such violence, that the fortifications, arms, appard, bedding, and much private goods and provisions, were consumed.
Before the close of the year, Nelson and Newport re- turned from England, with one hundred colonists, and a considerable supply of provisions.
At the arrival of this timely succor, the colony was reduced to thirty-eight persons, sixty-two having died since the departure of these ships, in the mouth of June. The survivers, worn out by fatigue, disease, and fam- ine, had long been making preparations to return home; but Smith, alternately resorting to solicitations and command, had prevailed upon them to delay the execu- tion of their design.
1607]
THE THIRD.
Plenty appeared again, and the planters industriously applied themselves to clear and sow the ground. Their attention was, however, diverted from their necessary pursuit, by the discovery of a yellowish sediment, in a stream, issuing from a bank of sand: it was fondly con. . sidered, as a sure indication of a rich mine of gold, The labors of husbandry were immediately suspended, and every thought and every effort employed, in search- ing for, and securing, this apparently valuable dust; and one of the ships was sent home, with a load of this ideal treasure. The fatal illusion was momentary ; not so its effects : they were long and sensibly felt. The neglected fields yielded no crop, and penury was again attended by disease. The colonists were once more saved from destruction, by the indefatigable activity of Smith, who again, by persuasion, and when that failed, by violence, induced the Indians to spare part of their stores to the whites.
The succeeding winter was extremely cold, and the rigor of the season was the cause of additional mortality: the winter was likewise extremely cold in the more northern part of the continent. L'Escarbot, a French- man, who was in Canada about this time, remarks, that the winter of 1607, had been the hardest that had ever been seen; "many savages died through the rigor of the weather: in these our parts, many poor people, and travellers, have been killed, through the severe hardness of winter weather."
There were judged to be at this time, within sixty miles from Jamestown, about seven thousand Indians, nearly two thousand of whom, were able to bear arms; the most seen together, by the English, were from seven to eight hundred.
62
CHAPTER.
[1608
On the recent encouragement for settling north Vir- ginia, Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew of Sir Walter Raleigh, with two ships and one hundred men, furnished with ordnance, ammunition and provisions, landed at the mouth of Sagadehoc, or Kennebeck river : he built a storehouse, and fortified it, and gave it the name of Fort St. George.
In the summer of the following year, John Smith, with a party of fourteen men, explored in an open barge, the bay of Chesapeake, from the ocean to the mouth of the Susquehannah, trading with some tribes of Indians, and fighting with some others; making, according to his own reckoning, an ascent of nearly three thousand miles, He found among the Susquehannah Indians, hatchets, and utensils of iron and brass, which they had obtained from the French, by the way of Canada. On his return to Jamestown he drew a map of the bay, and the rivers flowing into it, and annexed to it, a descrip- tion of the country, and the nations inhabiting it. This map was made with such accuracy, that it is the original from which all subsequent maps, have been chiefly copied.
His superior ability and industry. induced the coun- cil and settlers to invest him with the presidency of the board, and government of the colony.
Newport returned soon after with seventy colonists, among whom, were some persons of distinction: eight Dutchmen and Poles were sent to teach the planters the making of tar, glass and potash : by this vessel, the pre- sident and council received instructions to explore the western country, in order to procure certain intelligence of the South Sea; and when Newport returned to Eng .. land, he left two hundred persons in the colony.
..... .
63
1
THE THIRD.
1609]
The few men, left at Sagadehoc, having lost their stores by fire, the preceding winter, and in this "cold, mountainous, barren, rocky, desert country, meeting with nothing but extreme hardships, and hearing of the death of some of their principal supporters, returned to England, Their patrons, offended at their unex- pected arrival, desisted, for several years, from any further attempt."
The French availing themselves of this circumstance, to extend their infant settlement; Dumontz, being en- couraged by his sovereign, Henry IV, sent over three ships with families to commence a permanent settlement. Samuel Champlain, who undertook to conduct this col- ony, after examining the most eligible places for a settle- ment in Acadia, and on the river St. Lawrence, selected a spot at the confluence of this river, and that of St. Charles, at the distance of about three hundred and twenty miles from the sea: here he erected barracks, sowed wheat and rye, and on the third of July, laid the foundation of the city of Quebec, the capital of Canada.
This year, Henry Hudson, under a commission from king James, discovered Long island, that of Manhattan, on which the city of New York now stands, and the river to which he gave, and which still bears his name.
In the course of the following year, Samuel Argal arrived at Jamestown, in a ship loaded with provisions. The great influence which the king derived from the dependence on his will, in which the first charter kept the affairs of the company, had deterred many persons of capital, rank and influence, front taking any share in its concerns ; and the patentees chose not to venture much farther than they had hitherto done. The monarch was
64
CHAPTER
[1609
therefore, induced, in order to revive their drooping spirits, to grant them a new charter, This instrument bears date, the 16th of May, 1609. It incorporates six hundred and seventy individuals, and futy-six corpora- tions of the city of London, under the style, of ".The treasurer and company, of the adventurers and plan- ters of the city of London, for the first colony of Vir. ginia." It grants to them all the territory in that part of America, called Virginia, from the point of land call- ed cape, or point Comfort, two hundred miles to the northward, and two hundred nnles to the southward, along the sea coast, from sta to sea, with all the islands along the coast, within one hundred miles. A council is established, to be composed of sixty -two noblemen, knights and gentlemen, resident in London, under the style of " The king's council for the company of adven- turers and planters, of Virginia." Sir Thomas Smith was appointed treasurer, and the vacancies in the coun- cil, were to be filled up by the treasurer and council, out of the adventurers. The appointment of the governor and other officers, was vested in the council, who were authorized to legislate for the colonists, while resident in Virginia, or in their outward and homeward voyages : all the former laws were abrogated. The adventurers were liable to be disfranchised, by the major part of the assembly of the adventurers, and the treasurer and coun. cil were empowered to admit new members of the corporation.
The company were authorised to search for mines, not only within the boundaries of the grant, but in any part of the country not granted to other persons ; and to ship to Virginia, any of the king's subjects, not espe- cially excepted by him, and who might be wuling to
.
65
THE THIRD.
1609]
remove thither, with all necessary supplies, free from duty.
A freedom from all subsidies and customs, in Vir- ginia, for twenty-one years, was granted, and from taxes and impositions for ever, on importation and exporta- tion of goods, by the treasurer and company, except five per cent.
The company was authorized to repel, by violence, every intruder, and to seize the vessels and goods of persons trading within their limits, without their license.
Children, born in Virginia, were declared natural born subjects of the king.
Jurisdiction, in criminal matters, was given to the go- vernor and council, and they were empowered to enforce martial law, in case of rebellion.
Lastly, provision was made for the favorable interpre- tation of the charter, and the confirmation of such privi- leges in the former one, as were not abrogated in the pre- sent. Future adventurers were allowed to be entitled to the same privileges as the present patentees, and the oath of supremacy was required to be taken, by every person removing to Virginia.
Lord Delaware was chosen first governor of Vir- ginia, under the new charter. In accepting his com- mission, he required some little time to arrange his pri- vate concerns; and, in the mean while, the council despatched Sir Thomas Gates as lieutenant general, and Sir George Somers as admiral. The fleet, with which they sailed, consisted of nine ships, on board of which, five hundred colonists took passage. It sailed in the latter part of May.
N. CARO. 9
66
CHAPTER
[1609
Sir Thomas and Sir George were the bearers of a commission, authorizing them, on their landing in Vir- ginia, to cause lord Delaware to be proclaimed, to su- persede the former council, and to take upon themselves the administration of the government of the colony, till the arrival of bis lordship.
These two officers were on board of the same ship, which was separated from the fleet, in a violent storm, on the 25th of July, and cast ashore on the rocks of Ber- mudas; a small ketch perished at the same time. The fleet reached Jamestown a few weeks after; (about the middle of August.)
Without tidings from their commanders, and de- prived of all the papers, which the council had sent with the new administration, it appeared impossible to change the order of things. The new colonists insisted, that the former form of government was abrogated ; but, as they could produce no testimony of its abrogation, nor any warrant, authorizing the establishment of any new form, Smith refused to yield up the reins of go- vernment. The accession of a number of colonists, which should have added to the security of the colony, heightened the danger it was in. Anarchy and confu- sion prevailed ; the authority of Smith, verging towards its end, was but little respected : to the new comers, Smith attributed the disastrous situation of the country: he describes them as "a lewd company, containing many unruly gallants, packed hither by their friends, to create ill destinies." He detached two hundred of them to the falls of James river, and to that part of the present state of Virginia, which is now called the county of Nansemond. In the latter settlement, the English, im-
------- --
67
THE THIRD.
1609]
prudently giving offence to the neighbouring Indians, the savages fell upon them, and massacred the greater number: and the survivors returned to Jamestown, to seek protection under the authority, which, a short time before, they had contemned.
A systematic design was now meditated upon, by Powhatan, against the colony ; but his expectations were frustrated, by the discovery made by Pocahonta, his daughter, then but about twelve or thirteen years of age, who, in a dark and dreary night, came to Smith, in Jamestown, and informed him of her father's determi- nation, to come and destroy the colonists, on the follow. ing day: this timely information enabled the whites to avert the impending blow.
In the latter part of the year, president Smith, return- ing from an excursion up the bay; the casual explosion of a keg of gun powder near him, while he was sleeping in his boat, so miserably mangled his body, that he was for several days, unable to move without assistance : he caused himself, at last, to be brought on board of one of the ships, and returned to England, in search of bet- ter professional assistance, than the colony could afford.
He left behind him, besides the ships, seven boats, commodities to trade, a crop of corn lately housed, pro- visions for ten weeks in the store, upwards of four hundred and ninety colonists, twenty four pieces of ordnance, three hundred muskets, with other arms, and a sufficient quantity of ammunition.
The Indians, their language and habitations, were well known. The colony was well supplied with nets for fishing, farming utensils, wearing apparel, and pos- sessed five horses and a mare, five or six hundred hogs,
68
CHAPTER
[1610
some goats, sheep and fowls, and were in every other respect in a comfortable and prosperous situation.
The Virginians were not long without feeling the absence of the chief, to whose judgment and activity the colony owed its prosperous state. In the disorder that ensued, several laid claim to the supreme command ; the choice of the colonists, at last, fell upon George Percy, whose heart was virtuous, and whose connexions were respectable, but whose talents were not suited to the turbulence of the times ; his constitution had ill borne the effects of a change of climate, and his health was so much impaired, that he stood in need of Euro- pean medical assistance, as much as the person he was appointed to succeed.
The Indians soon became conscious of the advantage which they derived, from the absence of the man by whom they had, until now, been reduced, and kept in awe and subjection, and of the favorable opportunity of making a successful attack upon the whites; the wonted supplies were kept back, and casual aggressions an- nounced soon after a state of war. Unable to attack the enemy, the whites confined themselves to Jamestown, and lost the opportunity of procuring food by hunting ; their stock of provisions was consumed, and a dreadful famine ensued ; in six months, the colony was reduced to sixty-eight persons, of all ages and sexes, so feeble and emaciated, that they could not have survived their companions, without some speedy relief.
Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers arrived at Jamestown from Bermudas. on the twenty-third of May ; none of the crew of the vessel, in which they had been shipwrecked, had perished, and they had been so fortu-
1610]
THE THIRD.
nate as to save all the provisions on board of it ; during a stay of ten months on this uninhabited island, they had built two barks, in which they had made the voyage to Virginia.
One hundred and thirty persons came in these barks. and the provisions saved from the ship, having support- ed them at Bermudas, during their long stay there, and during their passage, could not long supply their wants, and those of the colonists, to whom they were now joined.
It appeared, that on putting the people on the most scanty allowance, the stock on hand would not last much longer than a fortnight. In this dilemma, it was deter- mined to abandon the country, and proceed to New- foundland, where present relief might be obtained, and sufficient shipping to carry the colonists to Eng- land, this being the season of the fishery ; they sailed accordingly.
Thus, more than a quarter of a century after the first attempt of the English to establish a colony in America, six years after the laying the foundation of Jamestown, was the northern continent without a single individual, acknowledging obedience to the laws of England, not- withstanding the very great sacrifices of lives and wealth, in endeavoring to accomplish this desirable object.
The French settlement, in Canada, was thriving, and Lewis XIII. who this year succeeded Henry IV. on the throne of France, less inclined to war than his predeces- sor, had manifested the intention to foster the rising colony.
The Spaniards still kept a few soldiers, in some scat- tered forts on the coast of Florida.
70
CHAPTER, [1610
The Dutch had lately visited the island of Manhattan, discovered by Hudson, in order to trade with the natives, and built some huts, in token of their possession of the country, to which they gave the name of New- Netherland.
Smith-Stith-Beverlyj-Keith-Marshall.
-----
-
16107
THE FOURTH.
1
CHAPTER IV.
LITTLE did the colonists believe, when they abandoned Jamestown, and with it the hope of be- ing among the founders of the English empire in America, that in a few days an auspicious event was to restore them to their forsaken dwellings, and enable them to resume the successful establishment of the first English colony. How near is often the hour of despair to that, which affords us the true pledge of the attainment of our most sanguine wishes. The colonists were yet in the river, when three ships were descried approaching its mouth; Lord Del- aware was in one of them: one hundred and fifty new settlers accompanied him, and the flotilla was load- ed with a plentiful supply of provisions, clothing, tools of husbandry, ammunition, &c. He prevailed on the Virginians to return. and on his landing pro- ceded to the church, where divine service was per- formed, after which he caused his commission to be read, when president Percy surrendered to him his authority with the patent and scal of the colony.
He had been vested with the sole and supreme command in the colony, in the constitution of which a very important change was effected; the original aristocracy of the country was converted into the rule of one, over the deliberations of whom the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.