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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
It is interesting to note that Robert Beverley, who was the clerk of the Assembly in 1685, probably never occupied the porch chamber as an office, for by a letter from King James II, dated August 1, 1686, he was forever disqualified for holding office, the reason assigned for which in the letter being that he had " chiefly occasioned and promoted those disputes and con- tests " of the Assembly, in the stormy session of 1685. The king's letter also deprived the House of the privilege of electing its clerk, transferring to the governor authority to fill the posi- tion by appointment, and ordered Beverley's prosecution for altering the records.4 Beverley died shortly before April, 1687.
By an order of the General Assembly there was to be placed a " railing with rails and banisters of Locust or Cedar wood laid double in Oyle & and as close as may be ye forepart of ye State House, of convenient height & att convenient distance from ye House."" The above is taken to mean that the railing was to be placed across the Assembly room to exclude spectators from the part of the hall appointed for the sessions of the burgesses.
In uncovering the foundations it was discovered that nearly all of the brick of which the walls were composed and parts of those belonging to the foundations had been removed, also some of the brick paving.
It is inferred from finding fragments of slate and tiles around the foundations that the roofs of the buildings were covered with those materials. They were specified in the statute of De- cember, 1662.
The row of buildings was probably completed about 1666, burned in 1676, and partly rebuilt in 1685 and 1686. The re- mainder of the row was possibly rebuilt between 1694 and 1698. The buildings comprising it were destroyed in the fire of Octo- ber 31, 1698.
The foregoing views as to the arrangement of rooms in the fourth state house are exhibited on the accompanying plate.
40 Hening's Statutes, Vol. III, page 41.
" McDonald Papers, Vol. VII, p. 397.
THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE" 1607-1698
SAMUEL H. YONGE
12.50
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Samuel Ho . Youge
THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE" 1607 1698
A Brief Historical and Topographical Sketch
OF THE
First American Metropolis.
Illustrated with Original Maps, Drawings and Photographs BY
SAMUEL H. YONGE
"Redivivum est ex vetusto renovatum."-FESTUS.
FIFTH EDITION
L. H. JENKINS, INC. RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
1936
The copyright of this book and the electrotype plates were donated by the author to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
Copyright, 1903.
by SAMUEL H. YONGE.
Copyright, 1907, by SAMUEL H. YONGE.
Copyright, 1930, by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities records with sorrow the loss of Samuel H. Yonge, for many years a member of the Advisory Board and a member of the Jamestown Committee since its formation. To this committee his loss is irreparable.
Mr. Yonge was one of the best-known engineers of his day and was for many years in the employment of the United States Government; as Consulting Engineer he aided in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge, the bridge over the Mississippi River at St. Paul and other important struc- tures. He planned and superintended the construction of the sea wall protecting the upper end of Jamestown Island, thus saving from the relentless river the beautiful old Church tower, and with unerring accuracy he located and excavated the first foundations uncovered on this historic ground.
His counsel and gratuitous services were invaluable and his devotion to the work of the Association was an inspiration to all its members.
His book-The Site of "Old Jamestowne"-shows careful research and is of great value to those studying the history of the first permanent English Settlement in our country. The copyright of this book and the whole of its first edition were presented by the author to this Association and the sale of succeeding editions still adds to its revenue.
Mr. Yonge died on the 11th of March, 1935, in Edenton, North Carolina, and his body was brought to Richmond for burial in Hollywood.
Of him it has been well said "Whether in Hollywood or in some other hallowed ground Virginia owes a final resting place to the body of Mr. Yonge. Indeed * * * this quiet modest stu- dent and scientist * * * might well be given place on James- town Island itself."
TO MRS. JOSEPH BRYAN
PRESIDENT
OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF VIRGINIA ANTIQUITIES In recognition of hier efforts for perpetuating the ancient landmarks of VIRGINIA This book is dedicated
" Remove not the ancient landmark which thy Fathers have set." -Proverbs, Chap. xxii, v. 28.
PREFACE TO THE
TERCENTENARY EDITION.
HE Site of Old 'James Towne,' 1607-1698," originally appeared in four consecutive issues of the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, between January and October, 1904. The monograph was published in book form by the Association for the Preservation of Vir- ginia Antiquities in the same year. The work included the results of the author's original investigations as to the town's site, and was issued to correct the erroneous opinions on the subject, that obtained up to the time of its publication.
The newly discovered matter comprised the locations of the shore line of the head of Jamestown Island in the seventeenth century and several other important topographical features, the site of the former town, including its churches, state house buildings and forts, the probable landing place of the first party of settlers and the residences and grounds of some of the town's prominent people. The determination of these features has been generally accepted. It is disappointing, however, to find that some of the most important original deductions have appeared in other writings, without the customary credit being accorded to " The Site of Old 'James Towne.'"
Since the first publication of the work, no information has been discovered to throw additional light on the subject. After a careful review of the available data and a study of the Ambler MSS., it appears that no change can be made in the map, as originally constructed from the transcripts of the old patents at Richmond, Va.
The text of the present edition is almost identically the same as the first. The exceptions to the above are of a minor character, consisting of the amplification of a few paragraphs
[3]
4
PREFACE.
to make them clearer, and the addition of two chapters, one a brief outline of some of the social and economic conditions that obtained in England and Virginia during the Jamestown period, the other a connected summary of important events that occurred during the town's life.
The portraits of Sir Henry Wriothsley and Lord La Warr are taken from Brown's Genesis of the United States, and that of Sir Edwin Sandys from Brown's First Republic, with the sanction of the publishers, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Com- pany, for which courtesy acknowledgment is hereby made.
The tercentenary edition is presented in response to numerous requests, and to meet the demand for information on the sub- ject of the first English settlement in America, arising from the interest awakened by the celebration of its three hundredth anniversary.
It should be a cause for congratulation to those who feel an interest in the preservation of the historic site of Jamestown to know that in January, 1906, the protection of the part of the island bank exposed to the attack of the James River was com- pleted by extending the sea wall, constructed in 1901, to a point where, according to the author's investigations, was situa- ted the southeastern corner of the palisades which inclosed the ancient fort town.
Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made of the valuable assistance rendered by Mr. Frank D. Beckham, of Prince Wil- liam County, Virginia, in the preparation of this edition, also to Mr. Wm. G. Stanard, the erudite Secretary of the Virginia Historical Society, for many favors, and his encouragement and support.
CONTENTS
-
Page
DEDICATION,
1
PREFACE, 3 - 4
LIST OF FIRST SETTLERS 9
INTRODUCTION, 11 - 17
Erroneous opinions of former writers as to the location of the town site, and of the extent of its destruction by the encroachments of the James.
INDEX TO "MAP OF 'IAMES CITTY', 1607-1698," 18 - 20
References to historic and interesting localities at Jamestown, shown on author's map.
DESCRIPTION OF JAMESTOWN ISLAND, 21 - 24
Its topography, tides, points of interest, locations, etc.
ABRASION OF THE ISLAND, 25 - 28
Causes .- Method of determining the rate and extent of encroachments on the island by James River.
LANDING PLACE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS, 29 - 30
Located from an allusion, in Percy's Discourse, to the proximity of the six-fathom curve to the river bank, and from a study of the water depths at Jamestown Island and the physical characteristics of James River.
LOCATION OF FIRST FORT AND TOWN, 31- 34
Description of the first fort .- Old writings interpreted show its enlargement from one acre to four acres.
LOCATIONS OF BLOCK HOUSES, 35
DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN, 36 - 42
Class of habitations at different times, and the unavail- ing efforts made to promote the town's growth.
POPULATION OF THE TOWN AND COLONY, 43 - 45
Accessions to population by arrivals of new settlers .- Mortality during different periods .- Increase in popu- lation of the colony .- Inertia of the town.
SUFFERINGS OF THE EARLY COLONISTS, 46 - 49
Causes of mortality .- Extracts from Frethorne's letter. " THE NEW TOWNE," 50 - 58
Method of determining its position from the transcripts of old land grants .- Description of the transcripts .- References to town's site in old writings .- Positions of grounds of governors and other residents .- The streets.
CONTENTS.
WEST END OF THE TOWN,
59 - 64 Positions of roadways, and grounds of prominent resi- dents.
CHURCH BUILDINGS AND ORIGINAL GRAVEYARD OF THE " MOTHER CHRISTIAN TOWNE," 65 - 74 Method of determining the positions of the several
former church buildings and the graveyard, from available data .- Excavation of foundations of churches and what they revealed .- Description of the brick church of 1639 - 1647 .- Tombs and graves within the church.
THE COLONIAL LEGISLATURE, 75 - 76 Remarks on.
JAMES CITY STATE HOUSES, 77-97
Determination of positions of the several former state houses, and descriptions .- When built and de- stroyed .- Inns and residences used as state houses. THE TURF AND BRICK FORTS, 98 - 102 Positions how determined .- References to by Mr. Rich- ard Randolph, Louis Hue Girardin and Rev. John Clayton .- No picture of ancient Jamestown extant. HISTORICAL SUMMARY OF THE JAMESTOWN PERIOD, .... 104 - 131 Important occurrences during the terms of the presi- dents and governors, including brief accounts of Ba- con's Rebellion of 1676 and of the Tobacco Plant Cut- ting Riots of 1682.
THE ENGLISH AND VIRGINIANS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CEN- TURY, 132 - 143 Persecution of non-conformists and punishment of witches .- Newspapers .- Education of women .- Con- dition of art, medical science and music .- Games, wages, articles of diet .- Laws and penalties .- The English courts and judiciary .- Class of settlers in Virginia .- Early life in Virginia .- Money, means of communication .- Silk culture, glass making, dwelling houses, diet, dress .- The development of the Vir- ginian.
APPENDIX, 144 - 148 Details of method used in constructing map of "The New Towne" from the old land grant transcripts. NOTE .- THE AMBLER MSS. AND "THE SITE OF OLD 'JAMES TOWNE,' 1607 - 1698," 149 - 151 Allusions to, and comments on the Ambler Papers.
ILLUSTRATIONS
From original measurements, drawings and photographs by the author.
FRONTISPIECE .- Mr. Samuel H. Yonge. To face page. MAP OF " IAMES CITTY," VA., 1607 - 1698, 18
Constructed from studies of ancient land grants.
THE SEA WALL, 25
THE BRICK CHURCH OF 1639 RESTORED: 43
RUINS OF CHURCH STRUCTURES, 66
IN THE CHURCH YARD, 69
A sycamore centenarian, tomb of Rev. James Blair.
THE CHURCH TOWER RUIN, 72
THE MYSTERIOUS TABLET, 74
ANCIENT FOUNDATIONS AT JAMESTOWN, VA.,
87
The state house, 1667 - 1698, Phillip Ludwell's three houses and " The Country House."
SECTION OF STATE HOUSE FOUNDATIONS EXCAVATED IN 1903,
90
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH'S COAT OF ARMS, 98
PORTRAITS :
Captain John Smith, 104
Lord Thomas La Warr, third Baron Delaware, first governor
of Virginia under the London Company, 110
Sir Edwin Sandys, second governor of the London Com- pany, and Sir Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of South-
ampton, third governor of the London Company, .
114
James the First, Charles the First and Charles the Second, of England, 133
James the Second and William and Mary, 137
PLAT OF THE TRACTS, 145
Constructed from descriptions of surveys in old land grant transcripts at Richmond.
Patent to William Sherwood, 1694, including land covering
part of the site of Jamestown .- From the Ambler MSS., .. 150
[7]
The names of the first settlers at Jamestown, as far as pre- served by Captain John Smith, were as follows:
Council
Mr. Edward Maria Wingfield
Captaine Bartholomew Gosnoll
Captaine John Smith
Captaine John Ratcliffe
Captaine John Martin
Captaine George Kendall
Gentlemen
Mr. Robert Hunt, Preacher
Mr. George Perciel
Anthony Gosnoll
George Flower
Captaine Gabriel Archer
Robert Fenton
Robert Ford
William Bruster
Edward Harrington
Dru (e) Pickhouse
Labourers
John Laydon3
William Cassen
George Cassen
Thomas Cassen
John Robinson
William Rods
Thomas Mouton
William White
Eustace Clovill
Old Edward
Stephen Halthrop
Henry Tavin
Kellam Throgmorton
George Goulding
Edward Morish
John Dods
Nathaniel Powell
Edward Browne
Robert Behethland
James Read, Blacksmith
Jonas Profit, Sailer
Thomas Cowper, Barber
Wil Garret, Bricklayer
Thomas Studley
John Herd, Bricklayer
Richard Crofts
Nicholas Houlgrave
Thomas Webbe
William Loue, Taylor Nic: Scott, Drum
Wil: Wilkinson, Chirurg
Samuel Collier, boy
Nat Pecock, boy
William Smethes Francis Snarsbrough
James Brumfield, boy
Richard Mutton, boy
Richard Simons
Edward Brookes
Richard Dixon
John Martin
Roger Cooke Anthony Gosnold
Thomas Wotton, Chirurg2
John Stevenson
Thomas Gore
Henry Adling
Francis Midwinter
Richard Frith
Carpenters
William Laxon
Edward Pising
Thomas Emry
Robert Small
Thomas Jacob John Brookes
Ellis Kingston
Thomas Sands
Benjamin Beast
William Johnson
William Vnger
John Penington Jeremy Alicock George Walker
Edward Brinto, Mason
John Waler John Short William Tankard
With divers others to the number of one hundred and five. The total number left at Jamestown on June 22, 1607, was 104. During the first 4 months fifty of these first settlers died.
1Brother of the Duke of Northumberland. 2Surgeon.
3First man married in Virginia.
[9]
The Site of Old "James Towne," (1607-1698)
BY SAMUEL H. YONGE.
INTRODUCTION.
T was the author's privilege to have charge, under the direc- tion of the United States Engineer Department in 1900 and 1901, of the work of protecting Jamestown Island from the encroachments of James River.
Before proceeding with the above work an attempt was made to learn the cause and extent of the encroachments. The for- mer was soon discovered to be abrasion by wave action, while the latter, on account of the available evidence being meager and uncertain, could not be satisfactorily determined.
The abraded area at first appeared to be upwards of fifty acres, having its greatest width, about three-eighths of a mile, at the northwestern extremity of the island.
While the protection work was under construction new evi- dence offered, in the light of which the above area appeared too large. This led to making personal researches among all avail- able sources of information, which occupied the leisure moments of a period of two years.
The results of the above investigation, with regard to the site of the former town, presented in the accompanying monograph, are at variance with the statements of other modern writers.
There are but two descriptions available of the island and town after the latter had passed beyond the transitional stage of a military post, by writers of the time having a personal knowl- edge of the localities; one by an anonymous writer in about
[11]
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
1676, the other ten years later by the Rev. John Clayton. Both descriptions are quite incomplete. Supplemented by informa- tion from other sources, however, they have considerable value, especially that by Mr. Clayton.
In the description of the town by Mr. Richard Randolph, the antiquarian, published in 1849, in the Virginia Historical Reg- ister, Vol. II, pages 138 and 139, occurs the following :
" I will only add that the great body of the town, which, how- ever, was never very large, was certainly west of the Old Steeple still visible, and is now entirely, or very nearly, submerged in the river. This is clearly proved by the old deeds for lots in the town recorded in the office of James City County Court, which call for bounds that are now under water, and more palpably, by vast numbers of broken bricks and other relics of building that may still be seen in the western bank at low tide."
It is evident from the above quotation that Mr. Randolph was not aware of the fact now disclosed that after about 1623 the greater part of the village was east of the tower ruin. The reasons for his belief that almost the entire town was west of the ruin were probably the following: During about the last three and a half decades of the town's existence the public buildings, as will be shown in the following pages, were west of the tower, on which fact, no doubt, the tradition was founded that the whole town was in that neighborhood; and, as only the western bank of the island was subsequently attacked by the waves, and consequently the foundations of former buildings of that quarter alone were exposed to view by abrasion of the bank, the above tradition was apparently confirmed; further, after the last state house and other buildings were burned in 1698, the standing parts of buildings in the entire town were, in the course of time, obliterated by the town site being put under cultivation and the brick formerly composing the buildings being removed; and, finally, on account of the long interval-a century and a half- between the town's abandonment as the seat of government, by which its few inhabitants, composed principally of resident state officials and tavern keepers, were compelled to remove, and that
13
THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
of a revival of any very great interest in the town, the traditions depended on for fixing its position had become dim and defective.
From what follows it appears that writers of later date than Mr. Randolph accepted and reflected his views, without proper investigation.
According to Bishop Meade, in his Old Churches and Families of Virginia, Vol. I, page 111, the town was situated between the existing tower ruin and the upper extremity of the island, its eastern end being a short distance (one hundred and fifty yards) above the ruin, which he places at about a mile below the northern end of the isthmus. He also states in effect that the part of the island above alluded to had been encroached on by the river, thereby implying that the greater part of the town site had been washed away, and that traces of the town were visible at low tide in front of the island bank, i. e., the western bank, which was the part abraded.
From the brief description of the town by the late Edward Duffield Neill, D. D., contained on page 203, Virginia Carolo- rum, published in 1886, it would appear that he, too, believed it to have been at the western extremity of the island. He also states that the quarter called " the New Towne " had been de- stroyed by the encroachments of the river.
Dr. John Fiske informs us in Virginia and Her Neighbors, Vol. II, page 120, published in 1896, that more than half of the town site has been destroyed.
The deductions of Dr. Lyon Gardner Tyler regarding the location of the town site, as set forth in the first edition of The Cradle of the Republic are in line with those of other authors.
The unquestioned views of the above-mentioned writers that the town was west of the church tower ruin and that the greater part of it had been engulfed by the river were accepted as cor- rect in beginning the investigation of the subject. As no information was available in historical works as to the extent and shape of the abrasion of the island shore, a study was made of the old records of seventeenth century land grants at
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
" James Citty." From these grants, principally, it was learned that the town bordered not only the western shore of the island immediately above the tower, but also the adjacent southern shore below for a greater distance, with a total frontage on the river of about three-fourths of a mile.
The patents also show that the quarter of the town referred to in them as the " New Towne " was of a permanent and not of an ephemeral character, and that for many years after its establishment, about 1623, was the most important part of the corporation. The most notable events and incidents of the first two and last three decades of the town's history, however, occurred at and west of the church still marked by the tower ruin.
The Cradle of the Republic is the only work in which an attempt is made to describe the location of the town. On pages 19 and 40 of that work (the first edition) the Back Street of " The New Towne" is placed on a ridge about 250 yards northwesterly from the tower ruin, and on pages 53 and 54, a one-acre tract acquired by William Sherwood in 1681 and a tract belonging to Henry Hartwell in 1688 are located in the same vicinage. If these locations were correct, the town must always have been west of the tower ruin. In the following chapters it will be shown that "The New Towne " with its " Back Street," probably so named on account of being back from the water front or behind the town, and Sherwood's and Hartwell's lots, were east, instead of west of the tower ruin, and towards the eastern end of the town. The Hartwell tract, as shown on the "Map of Iames Citty " accompanying, was about five hundred yards east of the tower, on the southern water front, instead of two hundred and fifty yards west, as given by Dr. Tyler in the above-mentioned work.
In the description of the town during Sir Thomas Gates' first term (1611), Vol. II, page 529, Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century, by Philip Alexander Bruce, the building of a bridge is construed to mean that the structure connected the island with the mainland. This would
15
THE SITE OF OLD " JAMES TOWNE."
have created an easy means for the Indians to reach the island and attack the settlers. As will be shown further on, the " bridge " was merely a wharf.
According to Bishop Meade, in his Old Churches and Families of Virginia, the island was connected with the main- land by a causeway on the site of the former isthmus about the middle of the eighteenth century. The causeway appears to have been a pile trestle which was constructed in the first half of the nineteenth century. It was destroyed by a storm after standing a few years. During the latter half of the eighteenth century there was a ferry at the site of the isthmus, which was probably used by Lord Cornwallis for crossing his army to the island while on his way south in July, 1781. About this time he worsted " the boy " Lafayette in a spirited skirmish on the mainland between Green Spring and the island and came here near capturing him.
In constructing the chart of the town and its environs, the localities where a number of historic scenes were enacted were fixed, also the locations, with greater or less exactness, of the grounds or dwellings of a number of the former residents, the sites of two of the town's three forts and of several of its public buildings.
There being no definite information available for determining the positions of the western bank of the head of the island dur- ing the Jamestown period, of the original paled town, also of the first fort and early graveyard, it was necessary to depend on reasonable conjecture. On account of not being based on data of a definite character, as are most of the other localities treated of, this part of the investigation is offered with a measure of dif- fidence. The deductions, however, are believed to be warranted by the evidence. Unfortunately, there is nothing to show who owned the land around the church tower anterior to 1683, where, according to this investigation, before the " New Towne " was established, the earliest town was situated.
The positions of the third and fourth state houses, and the grounds of several persons conspicuous in the affairs of the
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THE SITE OF OLD " JAMES TOWNE."
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