USA > Virginia > History of the colony and ancient dominion of Virginia > Part 10
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The year 1615 is remarkable in Virginia history for the first establishment of a fixed property in the soil, fifty acres of land being granted by the company to every freeman in absolute right .¿ This salutary reform was brought about mainly by the influence of Sir Thomas Dale, one of the best of the early go- vernors. Sir Thomas having now, after a stay of five years in Virginia, established good order at Jamestown, appointed George Yeardley to be deputy governor in his absence, and embarked for England, accompanied by John Rolfe and his wife, the Princess Pocahontas, and other Indians of both sexes. They arrived at Plymouth on the 12th of June, 1616, about six weeks after the death of Shakespeare, who died on the twenty-third of April. The arrival is thus noticed in a news-letter: "Sir Thomas Dale is arrived from Virginia, and brought with him some ten or twelve old and young of that country, among whom is Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, a king or cacique of that country, mar- ried to one Rolfe, an Englishman. I hear not of any other riches or matter of worth, but only some quantity of sassafras, tobacco, pitch, tar, and clapboard-things of no great value, unless there were plenty and nearer hand. All I can hear of it is, that the country is good to live in, if it were stored with people, and might in time become commodious. But there is no present profit to be expected."§
Reverting to the condition of affairs in the colony, it is to be observed, that the oligarchical government of the president and council, with all its odious features, had long before this come to an end; order and diligence had now taken the place of confu-
* Chalmers' Annals, 33. + Anderson's Hist. Col. Church, i. 27, in note.
į Chalmers' Introduc., i. 10.
¿ Court and Times of James the First, i. 415.
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sion and idleness; peace with the Indians had given rise to a free trade with them, and the English acquired their commodities by lawful purchase instead of extorting them by force of arms. The places inhabited by the whites, at this time, were Henrico and the limits, Bermuda Nether Hundred, West and Shirley Hundred, Jamestown, Kiquotan, and Dale's Gift. At Henrico there were thirty-eight men and boys, of whom twenty-two were farmers. The Rev. William Wickham was the minister of this place. It was the seat of the college established for the education of the natives; they had already brought hither some of their chil- dren, of both sexes, to be taught. At Bermuda Nether Hundred (Presquile) the number of inhabitants was one hundred and nine- teen. Captain Yeardley, deputy governor, lived here for the most part. The minister here was Master Alexander Whitaker. At West and Shirley Hundred there were twenty-five men under Captain Madison. At Jamestown fifty, under Captain Francis West; the Rev. Mr. Bucke minister. At Kiquotan Captain Webb commanded; Rev. Mr. Mease the minister. Dale's Gift, on the sea-coast, near Cape Charles, was occupied by seventeen men under Lieutenant Cradock. The total population of the colony, at this time, was three hundred and fifty-one .* Yeardley directed the attention of the colony to tobacco, as the most saleable com- modity that they could raise, and its cultivation was introduced into Virginia in this year, 1616, for the first time. The English now found the climate to suit their constitutions so well, that fewer people died here in proportion than in England. The Chickahominies refusing to pay the tribute of corn agreed upon by the treaty, Yeardley went up their river with one hundred men, and, after killing some and making some prisoners, brought off much of their corn. On his return he met Opechancanough at Ozinies, about twelve miles above the mouth of the Chickaho- miny. In this expedition Henry Spilman, who had been rescued from death by Pocahontas, now a captain, acted as interpreter.
* Sir Thomas Dale, at one haul with a seine, had caught five thousand fish, three hundred of which were as large as cod, and the smallest of the others a kind of salmon-trout, two feet long. He durst not adventure on the main school, for fear it would destroy his nets.
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In the mean time Pocahontas was kindly received in London; by the care of her husband and friends she was, by this time, taught to speak English intelligibly; her manners received the softening influence of English refinement, and her mind was enlightened by the truths of religion. Having given birth to a son, the Virginia Company provided for the maintenance of them both, and many persons of quality were very kind to her. Be- fore she reached London, Captain Smith, who was well acquainted at court, and in especial favor with Prince Charles, in requital for her former preservation of his life, had prepared an account of her in a small book, and he presented it to Queen Anne. But, at this time, being about to embark for New England, he could not pay her such attentions as he desired and she well deserved. Nevertheless, learning that she was staying at Brentford, where she had repaired in order to avoid the smoke of the city, he went, accompanied by several friends, to see her. After a modest saluta- tion, without uttering a word, she turned away, and hid her face, as if offended. In that posture she remained for two or three hours, her husband and Smith and the rest of the company having, in the mean while, gone out of the room, and Smith now regretting that he had written to the queen that Pocahontas could speak English. At length she began to talk, and she reminded Captain Smith of the kindness she had shown him in her own country, saying: "You did promise Powhatan what was yours should be his, and he the like to you; you called him father, being in his land a stranger, and for the same reason so I must call you." But Smith, on account of the king's overweening and preposte- rous jealousy of the royal prerogative, felt constrained to decline the appellation of "father," for she was "a king's daughter." She then exclaimed, with a firm look: "Were you not afraid to come into my father's country, and cause fear in him and all his people (but me,) and fear you here that I should call you father ? I tell you then I will, and you shall call me child, and I will be forever and ever your countrywoman. They did tell us always you were dead, and I knew no other till I came to Plymouth; yet Powhatan did command Uttomattomakkin to seek you, and know the truth, because your countrymen will lie much." It is remarkable that Rolfe, her husband, must have been privy to the
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deception thus practised on her; are we to attribute this to his secret apprehension that she would never marry him until she believed that Smith was dead ?
Tomocomo, or Uttamattomakkin, or Uttamaccomack, husband of Matachanna, one of Powhatan's daughters, being a priest, and esteemed a wise and knowing one among his people, Powhatan, or, as Sir Thomas Dale supposed, Opechancanough, had sent him out to England, in company of Pocahontas, to number the people there, and bring back to him an account of that country. Upon landing at Plymouth he provided himself, according to his in- structions, with a long stick, and undertook, by notching it, to keep a tally of all the men he could see; but he soon grew weary of the task, and gave it out in despair. Meeting with Captain Smith in London, Uttamattomakkin told him that Powhatan had ordered him to seek him out, that he might show him the English God, the king, queen, and prince. Being informed that he had already seen the king, he denied it; but on being convinced of it, he said: "You gave Powhatan a white dog, which Powhatan fed as himself; but your king gave me nothing, and I am better than your white dog." On his return to Virginia, when Pow- hatan interrogated him as to the number of people in England, he is said to have replied: "Count the stars in the heavens, the leaves on the trees, the sands on the sea-shore." Whether this and other such figurative expressions attributed to the Indians, were actually uttered by them, or whether they have received some poetical embellishment in the course of interpretation, the judicious reader may determine for himself.
During Smith's brief stay in London, many courtiers and others of his acquaintance daily called upon him for the purpose of being introduced to Pocahontas, and they expressed them- selves satisfied that the hand of Providence was manifest in her conversion, and declared that they had seen many English ladies worse favored, proportioned, and behaviored. She was presented at Court by Lady Delaware, attended by the lord her husband, and other persons of quality, and was graciously received. Her modest, dignified, and graceful deportment, excited the admira- tion of all, and she received the particular attentions of the king and queen.
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It is said, upon the authority of a well-established tradition, that King James was at first greatly offended at Rolfe for having presumed to marry a princess without his consent; but that upon a fuller representation of the matter, his majesty was pleased to express himself satisfied. There is hardly any folly so foolish but that it may have been committed by "the wisest fool in Christendom."
"The Virginia woman, Pocahontas, with her father counsellor, have been with the king, and graciously used, and both she and her assistant well placed at the masque."* She was styled the "Lady Pocahontas," and carried herself "as the daughter of a king." Lady Delaware and other noble persons waited on her to masquerades, balls, plays, and other public entertainments. Purchas, the compiler of Voyages and Travels, was present at an entertainment given in honor of her by the Bishop of London, Doctor King, which exceeded in pomp and splendor any other entertainment of the kind that the author of "The Pilgrim" had ever witnessed there.
Sir Walter Raleigh, after thirteen years' confinement in the Tower, had been released on the seventeenth of March preceding, and, upon gaining his liberty, he went about the city looking at the changes that had occurred since his imprisonment. It is not improbable that he may have seen Pocahontas.
Early in 1617 John Rolfe prepared to embark for Virginia, with his wife and child, in Captain Argall's vessel, the George. Pocahontas was reluctant to return. On the eve of her embarka- tion it pleased God to take her unexpectedly from the world. She died at Gravesend, on the Thames, in the latter part of March. As her life had been sweet and lovely, so her death was serene, and crowned with the hopes of religion.
"The Virginia woman, whose picture I sent you, died this last week at Gravesend, as she was returning home."* The parish register of burials at Gravesend, in the County of Kent, con- tains the following entry: "1616, March 21, Rebecca Wrothe,
* Court and Times of James the First, i. 388.
+ Letter of John Chamberlain to Sir Dudley Carleton, dated at London, March, 1617, in Court and Times of James the First, ii. 3.
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wyffe of Thomas Wrothe, Gent. A Virginia Lady borne, was buried in the Chancell." The date, 1616, corresponds with the historical year 1617. It appears that there was formerly a family of the name of Wrothe resident near Gravesend. This name might therefore easily be confounded with that of Rolfe, the sound being similar. Nor is the mistake of Thomas for John at all im- probable. Gravesend Church, in which Pocahontas was buried, was destroyed by fire in 1727, and no monument to her memory remains, if any ever existed .*
According to Strachey, a good authority, the Indians had several different names given them at different times, and Pow- hatan called his favorite daughter when quite young, Pocahontas, that is, "Little Wanton," but at a riper age she was called Amo- nate. According to Stith, f her real name was Matoax, which the people of her nation concealed from the English, and changed it to Pocahontas from a superstitious fear, lest, knowing her true name, they should do her some injury. Others suppose Matoax to have been her individual name, Pocahontas her title. After her conversion she was baptized by the name of Rebecca, and she was sometimes styled the "Lady Rebecca." The ceremony of her baptism has been made the subject of a picture, (by Chap- man,) exhibited in the rotundo of the Capitol at Washington.
Of the brothers of Pocahontas, Nantaquaus, or Nantaquoud, is especially distinguished for having shown Captain Smith "ex- ceeding great courtesy," interceding with his father, Powhatan, in behalf of the captive, and he was the "manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit," Smith ever saw in a savage.
Of the sisters of Pocahontas two are particularly mentioned, Cleopatre and Matachanna. Strachey has recorded the names of the numerous wives and children of Powhatan, the greater part of which are harsh and guttural, and apparently almost in- capable of being pronounced by the vocal organs of civilized man.
Smith says that Pocahontas, "with her wild train, visited Jamestown as freely as her father's habitation." In these visits
* Letter of C. W. Martin, Leeds Castle, England, to Conway Robinson, Esq., in Va. Hist. Reg., ii. 187.
+ Stith, 136 and 285.
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she had to cross the York River, some two miles wide, in a canoe, ("quintan" in the Powhatan language,) and then walk some ten or twelve miles across to Jamestown. . She is described as "being of a great spirit, however her stature;" from which it may be in- ferred that she was below the middle height .* She died at the age of twenty-two, having been born about the year 1595. Her infant son, Thomas Rolfe, was left for a time at Plymouth, under the care of Sir Lewis Stukely, Vice-Admiral of Devon, who after- wards, by his base treachery toward Sir Walter Raleigh, covered himself with infamy, and by dishonest and criminal practices re- duced himself to beggary. The son of Pocahontas was subse- quently removed to London, where he was educated under the care of his uncle, Henry Rolfe, a merchant.t
Thomas Rolfe came to Virginia and became a person of fortune and note in the colony. It has been said that he married in England a Miss Poyers; however that may have been, he left an only daughter, Jane Rolfe, who married Colonel Robert Bolling. He lies buried at Farmingdale, in the County of Prince George.} This Colonel Robert Bolling was the son of John and Mary Bol- ling, of Alhallows, Barkin Parish, Tower Street, London. He was born in December, 1646, and came to Virginia in October, 1660, and died in July, 1709, aged sixty-two years. Colonel Robert Bolling, and Jane Rolfe, his wife, left an only son, Major John Bolling, father of Colonel John Bolling and several daughters, who married respectively, Col. Richard Randolph, Colonel John Fleming, Doctor William Gay, Mr. Thomas Eld- ridge, and Mr. James Murray.
Censure is sometimes cast upon Captain Smith for having failed to marry Pocahontas; but history no where gives any just ground for such a reproach. The rescue of Smith took place in
* Smith, ii. 31; Beverley, B. i. 27. + Stith, 144; Beverley, B. i. 34.
į Of Farmingdale, or Farmingdell, John Randolph of Roanoke said, in a letter dated 1832: "But the true name is Kippax, called after the village of Kippax and Kippax Park, adjacent thereto, the seat of my maternal ancestors, the Blands, of the West Riding of York." Bland, of Kippax, County York, anciently seated at Bland's Gill, in that county, was raised to the degree of baronet in 1642. The present representative (1854) is Thomas Davison Bland, of Kippax Park, Esq. Gill signifies dell or valley.
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Pocahontas in cant to nowe Based in England. a hun Day and home. it may be sein he left on only chang him
OF VIRGINIA.
enty-eight years of age, and 1 left Virginia early in 1609, is then about fourteen years t would have been impossible napping her, as was done by afterwards-a measure which, en the colony was so feeble, ably have provoked the ven- led the plantation in prema- gall captured Pocahontas on the departure of Smith until Jamestown, but had lived on In the spring of 1613 it is Mr. John Rolfe had been in ith him." This attachment mmediately after her capture, marriage took place in April, had been led to believe that his deception upon her, Rolfe i was in no manner whatever friendship animated by the Friendship, according to Spen- exalted sentiment than love. ded Smith with a sort of filial affection, and she accordingly said to him, in the interview at Brentford, "I tell you then, I will call you father, and you shall call me child." The delusion practised on her relative to Smith's death would, indeed, seem to argue an apprehension on the part of Rolfe and his friends that she would not marry another while Smith was alive, and the particular circumstances of the inter- view at Brentford would seem to confirm the existence of such an apprehension. Yet, however that may have been, the honor and integrity of Smith remain untarnished.
Ildiage and the
* Inscription of date on Smith's likeness, prefixed to his history; Stith, 55, 127.
1
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she had to cross the York River, som (" quintan" in the Powhatan langu; or twelve miles across to Jamestown of a great spirit, however her statu ferred that she was below the midc age of twenty-two, having been bor infant son, Thomas Rolfe, was left the care of Sir Lewis Stukely, Vice wards, by his base treachery towar himself with infamy, and by dishon duced himself to beggary. The ‘ quently removed to London, wher care of his uncle, Henry Rolfe, a n
Thomas Rolfe came to Virginia & and note in the colony. It has England a Miss Poyers ; however t only daughter, Jane Rolfe, who m: He lies buried at Farmingdale, in This Colonel Robert Bolling was t ling, of Alhallows, Barkin Parish was born in December, 1646, and 1660, and died in July, 1709, a; Robert Bolling, and Jane Rolfe, h John Bolling, father of Colone. daughters, who married respectively, Col. Richard Randolph, Colonel John Fleming, Doctor William Gay, Mr. Thomas Eld- ridge, and Mr. James Murray.
Censure is sometimes cast upon Captain Smith for having failed to marry Pocahontas; but history no where gives any just ground for such a reproach. The rescue of Smith took place in
* Smith, ii. 31; Beverley, B. i. 27. + Stith, 144; Beverley, B. i. 34. į Of Farmingdale, or Farmingdell, John Randolph of Roanoke said, in a letter dated 1832: "But the true name is Kippax, called after the village of Kippax and Kippax Park, adjacent thereto, the seat of my maternal ancestors, the Blands, of the West Riding of York." Bland, of Kippax, County York, anciently seated at Bland's Gill, in that county, was raised to the degree of baronet in 1642. The present representative (1854) is Thomas Davison Bland, of Kippax Park, Esq. Gill signifies dell or valley.
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the winter of 1607, when he was twenty-eight years of age, and she only twelve or thirteen .* Smith left Virginia early in 1609, and never returned. Pocahontas was then about fourteen years of age; but if she had been older, it would have been impossible for him to marry her unless by kidnapping her, as was done by the unscrupulous Argall some years afterwards-a measure which, if it had been adopted in 1609, when the colony was so feeble, and so rent by faction, would probably have provoked the ven- geance of Powhatan, and overwhelmed the plantation in prema- ture ruin. It was in 1612 that Argall captured Pocahontas on the banks of the Potomac, and from the departure of Smith until this time she never had been seen at Jamestown, but had lived on the distant banks of the Potomac. In the spring of 1613 it is stated, that long before that time "Mr. John Rolfe had been in love with Pocahontas, and she with him." This attachment must, therefore, have been formed immediately after her capture, if it did not exist before; and the marriage took place in April, 1613. It is true that Pocahontas had been led to believe that Smith was dead, and in practising this deception upon her, Rolfe must have been a party; but Smith was in no manner whatever privy to it; he cherished for her a friendship animated by the deepest emotions of gratitude; and friendship, according to Spen- ser, a cotemporary poet, is a more exalted sentiment than love.
Pocahontas appears to have regarded Smith with a sort of filial affection, and she accordingly said to him, in the interview at Brentford, "I tell you then, I will call you father, and you shall call me child." The delusion practised on her relative to Smith's death would, indeed, seem to argue an apprehension on the part of Rolfe and his friends that she would not marry another while Smith was alive, and the particular circumstances of the inter- view at Brentford would seem to confirm the existence of such an apprehension. Yet, however that may have been, the honor and integrity of Smith remain untarnished.
* Inscription of date on Smith's likeness, prefixed to his history; Stith, 55, 127.
CHAPTER IX.
1617-1618.
Argall, Governor-Condition of Jamestown-Death of Lord Delaware-Name of Delaware River-Argall's Martial Law-Brewster's Case-Argall leaves Vir- ginia-His Character-Powhatan's Death-His Name, Personal Appearance, Dominions, Manner of Life, Character-Succeeded by Opitchapan.
LORD RICH, an unscrupulous and corrupt head of a faction in the Virginia Company, having entered into partnership with Captain Samuel Argall, (a relative of Sir Thomas Smith, the Treasurer or Governor of the Company,) by his intrigues contrived to have him elected Deputy-Governor of Virginia and Admiral of that country and the seas adjoining. He sailed for Virginia early in 1617, accompanied by Ralph Hamor, his vice-admiral, and arrived at Jamestown in May. Argall was welcomed by Captain Yeardley and his company, the right file of which was led by an Indian. At Jamestown were found but five or six habitable houses, the church fallen, the palisades broken, the bridge foundrous, the well spoiled, the storehouse used for a church; the market-place, streets, and other vacant ground planted with tobacco; the savages as frequent in the houses as the English, who were dispersed about as each man could find a convenient place for planting corn and tobacco. Tomocomo, who (together with the other Indians that had gone out to England in the suite of Pocahontas, as may be presumed, although the fact is not expressly mentioned,) had returned with Argall, was imme- diately, upon his arrival, sent to Opechancanough, who came to Jamestown, and received a present with great joy and thankful- ness. But Tomocomo denounced England and the English in bitter terms, especially Sir Thomas Dale. Powhatan having some time before this resigned the cares of government into the hands of Opechancanough, went about from place to place, still con- tinuing in friendship with the English, but greatly lamenting the death of Pocahontas. He rejoiced, nevertheless, that her child
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was living, and he and Opechancanough both expressed much desire to see him. During this year a Mr. Lambert introduced the method of curing tobacco on lines instead of in heaps, as had been the former practice .* Argall's energetic measures procured from the Indians, by trade, a supply of corn. The whole num- ber of colonists now was about four hundred, with numerous cattle, goats, and swine. The corn contributed to the public store was about four hundred and fifty bushels, and from the tri- butary Indians seven hundred and fifty, being considerably less than the usual quantity. Of the "Company's company" there remained not more than fifty-four, including men, women, and children. Drought, and a storm that poured down hailstones eight or nine inches in circumference, greatly damaged the crops of corn and tobacco.
The following is found among the early records :-
"BY THE ADMIRAL, ETC.
"To all to whom these presents shall come, I, Samuel Argall, Esq., admiral, and for the time present principal Governor of Virginia, send greeting in our Lord God everlasting, si'thence in all places of wars and garrison towns, it is most expedient and necessary to have an honest and careful provost marshall, to whose charge and safe custody all delinquents and prisoners of what nature or quality soever their offences be, are to be commit- ted; now know ye that for the honesty, sufficiency, and careful- ness in the execution and discharge of the said office, which I conceived of William Cradock, I do by these presents nominate, constitute, ordain, and appoint the said William Cradock to be provost marshall of the Bermuda City, and of all the Hundred thereto belonging, giving and granting unto the said William Cra- dock, all power and authority to execute all such offices, duties, and commands belonging to the said place of provost marshall; with all privileges, rights, and preëminences thereunto belonging, and in all cases which require his speedy execution of his said office, by virtue of these presents, he shall require all captains, officers, soldiers, or any other members of this colony, to be aiding and
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