USA > Virginia > City of Williamsburg > City of Williamsburg > Site of old "James Towne," 1607-1698 : a brief historical and topographical sketch of the first American metropolis > Part 5
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
English Ovid's Metamorphoses; Captain Roger Smith, Captain Richard Stevens, who wounded George Harrison in a duel near " James Citty," and George Menify, merchant and member of the council, who married the relict of John Rolfe, whose second wife was Pocahontas. The grounds of the above persons are shown more or less accurately on the map.
Sir George Yeardley's grounds had an area of seven acres, one rood. They were situated on the second ridge between the branch of the swamp and the Back River. The area of Gov- ernor Wyatt's tract is not known. It included the ground, where, at a later day, stood the Jaquelin-Ambler mansion. Dr. Pott first patented three acres and a few years later added nine acres. Captain Roger Smith's lot was four acres.
In 1665, there was a bridge across the branch of swamp near the northwest corner of the former twelve acre tract of Governor Pott,10 connecting the fourth and second ridges. There is a causeway at the above point which may be the successor of the bridge. This probably was the same bridge referred to in the rendition of the Yeardley patent contained on page 68 of Neill's Virginia Carolorum.
Sir William Berkeley resided at Jamestown during his first term of office as governor, his residence being one of the brick houses composing the first state house, which stood near the south shore of the island, about one hundred yards east of the eastern boundary of the Association's grounds. The same building appears to have been used by Governor Bennett, who, as the first governor under the Commonwealth, succeeded Berkeley.
Among the later residents of " the New Towne " were Cap- tain George Marable, John Barber, Robert Castle, John Phips, Thos. Woodhouse, John Fitchett, John Knowles and Rev. Wil- liam Mays. A list of the last residents after Bacon's Rebellion would include the names of Henry Hartwell, clerk of the court, John Howard, Richard Holder, Lieutenant-Colonel Chiles, John
10 Va. Land Pat. Records, Book V, p. 63.
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
Page, and although last, not least, Wm. Sherwood, the epitaph on whose tombstone in the little churchyard tells that he was "Born In the Parish Of White Chappell Near London. A Great Sinner Waiting For A Ioyfull Resurrection." Sherwood, during Bacon's Rebellion, was an adherent of Sir William Berke- ley. He was attorney-general, 1678-1680. In 1694 he was the proprietor of upwards of three hundred acres of land at the head of the island, including the outlying extreme western part of the town above the upper branch of " Pitch and Tarr Swamp," and a small part of the " New Towne " adjacent to Back Street.
The elevated position of the part of the fourth ridge north of the Back Street, between the site of the Jaquelin-Ambler mes- suage and the grounds of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, should have made it much sought after for residential purposes. There are some indications of there being house foundations along the line of the Back Street. The names of their occupants can probably never be ascertained, as there are apparently no documents containing that information.
In the address of ex-President Tyler, delivered at Jamestown in 1857 at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the first landing of the English, he remarked in referring to the destruc- tion of the town by Bacon in 1676: " The town was partially rebuilt, and many of its houses remained during my early novi- tiate at William and Mary College " (1802-1807). "They stood in a connected street running east and west from near the present dwelling-house (the Jaquelin-Ambler mansion) to the ruins of the church."
The foundations just mentioned probably belonged to the buildings alluded to by President Tyler. " The connected street running east and west " undoubtedly was the Back Street.
" The New Towne" was always inhabited until "James Citty " ceased to exist, the names of various owners of land in that quarter, belonging to different generations, being shown by the patents. Individuals bearing the surnames of many of the former townspeople are still to be found within one hundred miles of the site of " James Citty."
WEST END OF THE TOWN.
HE positions of land grants east of the church tower ruin being determined and the "New Towne " accurately located, investigation was made for the area west of the above ancient landmark. This resulted in placing approximately several early grants, previously referred to, near the head of the island on its western shore and in establishing quite satisfactorily the situation of the Bauldwin grant of 1656, which locates Block House Hill, also in showing the positions of the grants of John Howard, Robert Beverley, the historian, Richard Lawrence, the compatriot of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., Edward Chilton, attorney-general, Colonel Nathaniel Bacon the elder, Lieutenant Edward Ross, Colonel Philip Ludwell the first,1 and Philip Ludwell, Esq. (the second), of 1694. The last named grant fixes the position of the last state house.
The tract described is an undated patent to John Howard of about 1690,2 which Governor Sir Francis Nicholson failed to sign, but which was signed by Governor Sir Edmund Andros in 1694, is approximately located by the present churchyard in- closure (see map).
From the above patent it is learned that the direction of the " old Greate Road " near and north of the churchyard was N. 271/4° W. The marks of this road are visible at the above locality, as before mentioned. Its objective point was probably the isthmus. The parts of the road shown on the map not fixed by the patents are tentative.
1 Philip I was member of the Virginia Council for many years; was expelled therefrom in 1679, reinstated in 1683 and again expelled in 1687 and disqualified for holding office; governor of Carolina 1689-'92; subsequently resided in London and died in England after 1716. Philip II, born 1666, died 1720. Speaker of House and mem- ber of council. Buried at Jamestown.
2 Virginia Land Patent Records, Book VIII, p. 82.
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THE SITE OF OLD " JAMES TOWNE."
From the Howard patent it is learned that Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, Senior, the second cousin of the patriot of the same name, owned a lot adjoining the Howard tract on the west. It would also appear from agreeing in bearing, that its northern boundary was part of one of the southern boundaries of part of a lot that once belonged to the scholarly Lawrence, sequestered on account of its owner's participation in Bacon's Rebellion, and bought by Colonel Bacon, Senior, in 1683-possibly be- cause it adjoined his tract, which was in front of the present tower ruin. Lawrence's house, according to T. M.'s account of Bacon's Rebellion,3 was one of the finest in the town. The re- mainder of the Lawrence tract probably extended east of that bought by Bacon. On using the common boundary line of the Howard and Lawrence plats, and placing the former in what appears to be its proper position near the graveyard, the latter is found to have for its northern boundary the branch of " Pitch and Tarr Swamp," which accords with the description in the patent.
The patent of the Lawrence tract ' fixes the position, as its western boundary, of a grant to Robert Beverley in 1694, which in turn furnishes the position of " The Maine Cart road," prob- ably another name for "the old Greate Road," leading, most probably, past the well about one rod east of the state house foundations on the third ridge, towards the isthmus and Block House Hill.
A correspondence of the course of the western line of a tract granted to William Edwards5 in 1690 with that of the eastern line of the Chilton tract locates the Edwards tract, and through it the western line of a lot of Nathaniel Bacon, Senior. The eastern boundary of the Bacon tract, as has been pointed out, was the Howard tract. Bacon's lot, therefore, occupied the greater part of the eastern half of the space on which stands the Confederate fort of 1861.
$ Force's Historical Tracts, Vol. I.
* Virginia Land Patent Records, Book VII, p. 300.
5 Ibid, Book VIII, p. 42.
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
The locating of the third and fourth state houses was accom- plished by determining the approximate positions of two land grants on a modern map of the head of the island, followed by probing and excavating.
Extracts from the patents are as follows :
Phillip Ludwell, April 20, 1694,-11/2 acres. Va. Land Patent Records, Book VIII, p. 315.
"One Acre and halfe of Land adjoyning to the Ruins of his three Brick houses between the State house and Country house in James City which Land is bounded Viz. beginning Neare Pitch and Tarr Swamp Eight Cheynes of the East'most end of the said houses and running by the said end south two degrees westerly Sixteen cheynes thence North Eighty Eight degrees Westerly three and three quarter Cheynes thence North two degrees Easterly sixteen Cheynes by the other End of the said houses and thence South Eighty Eight degrees Easterly three and three quarter cheynes to the place it begun."
Edward Chilton, April 16, 1683,-2 acres, 17 chains. Va. Land Patent Records, Book VII, p. 292.
" bounded, viz: from Col. Phillip Ludwells corner stake south eighty-eight degrees, easterly partly along his Honrs line ninety fouer chaines, thence south fouer degrees, and an halfe westerly, partly along an old ditch twelve chaines and an halfe down James river bank and along under ye said Hill to a stake neer ye brick fort, and thence north sixteen degrees easterly seaven cha : and an halfe to ye first stake."
The tract of Philip Ludwell being platted, its most probable location, after correcting for declination the bearings of its lines as given in the patent, was found to be on the third ridge, near the then southern end of the seawall. This was decided upon after considerable study and reflection, taking into account the distance from " Pitch and Tarr Swamp" of the crest of the third ridge, which appeared to be a good site for the three houses shown by the patent to have been on the tract. Although the above location seemed to be the only one which would meet
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
the requirements of the patent, it was not finally accepted until, as shown later, it was confirmed by further investigation.
The tract of Edward Chilton was next platted. A clue to its location was furnished by one of its boundary lines terminat- ing " neer ye brick fort," which fort, in 1688, was described by the Rev. John Clayton as being situated in " a vale," above the town, and consequently, above the church tower. A probable position for the brick fort, fulfilling the conditions imposed by the above description, seemed to be in the extension westward from the river bank of the swale between the third and fourth ridges. This view was confirmed by the discovery, by sounding, of piles of masonry in the shallow water at the locality named. The Chilton tract thus being approximately located with reference to the brick fort, valuable information was furnished as to the character and direction of the shore line, a " Hill " [high bank] lying about east and west. A most important and interesting feature, however, is yet to be noted, viz., that when the Chilton tract was given its most probable location on the map, it was found to connect with the assumed location of Philip Ludwell's tract. Moreover, the northern boundary of the Chil- ton tract which passed "partly along his Hon'rs line " (Hon. Philip Ludwell) is shown by the patents to have the same mag- netic bearing as the southern boundary of the Philip Ludwell tract of 1694. The grantee of the 1694 tract, entitled Philip Ludwell, Esq., was undoubtedly the son of the Hon. Philip Ludwell referred to in the Chilton patent. It seems probable that Philip Ludwell the second received part of his grant of 1694, the southern, from his father, who owned it in 1683, and possibly also the three brick houses, for the patent implies that the houses belonged to the second Ludwell before its date of issue in 1694.
The patent of 1694 states that Philip Ludwell, Esq., had land due him for the transportation of one person to Virginia, and he naturally selected a new piece adjacent to that which he then held, probably north of the houses, receiving a grant for the new and old tracts combined. Instances are found in the old
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
patent records of a patent being issued covering earlier grants that were contiguous to that acquired at the time of issuing the later patent.
The proximity of the first Philip Ludwell's property to the state house may account, to some extent, for the interest which he had in rebuilding the state house destroyed by Bacon, for which work he was, in fact, the contractor.
The plats of Chilton and Ludwell being thus united, trial was made to ascertain if the combined plats could be better loca- ted when platted separately. It was found, however, that no- change could be made that would improve the first location, and the author concluded that the time had arrived to verify his work by examining the ground. An opportunity for doing this occurred in January, 1903, when, to his great satisfaction, and that of a co-worker, the steel probe used for exploring the ground, struck a number of buried foundation walls. The subsequent work of the Association for the Preservation of Vir- ginia Antiquities, under his direction, has confirmed his views, the foundations discovered being within less than twenty-five feet of their position as indicated by the Ludwell patent, and having the same width collectively as given for the Ludwell tract. More- over, after correcting for variation of the needle, the different walls were found to have about the same azimuths as the boundaries of the Ludwell tract, given in the patent.
Adjoining the Ludwell house foundations on the east are others agreeing in a general way with the meagre descriptions extant of the state house, and to the west others, which are, of course, the remains of the " Country House " of 1694.
Further references to the above state house and brick fort are made under their respective captions.
Near the lower extremity of the seawall, and just outside of it, formerly stood a brick building, which Richard Randolph stated in 1837 was reputed to have been a powder magazine. This building was referred to in ex-President Tyler's address at
6 Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. III, p. 303.
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THE SITE OF OLD " JAMES TOWNE."
Jamestown in 1857,' previously quoted from, as the prison house of Opechancanough, brother of the great Powhatan. He also stated that its cellar had been formerly used for the storage of powder. If used as a magazine, uncommonly bad judgment was displayed in placing it where it would have been such a good target for a hostile fleet and where also in event of an ex- plosion, it would have damaged or destroyed the buildings on the third ridge. The allusion to it as the prison of Opechan- canough is suggestive of its being used as a jail, although prob- ably not for the Indian chief who died a captive at Jamestown about two years after the massacre of 1644.
In 1891 the eastern foundation wall was all that remained of the reputed "magazine." It was then located and found to be about thirty-two feet long. If it was a prison, it probably was not built until after 1685, in which year the subject of building a prison was brought up in the Assembly; if a magazine, it was probably erected at an earlier date, possibly about the time that the brick fort, hereinafter described, was constructed.
Incidentally, it may be stated that the third ridge was used as a camp ground for Confederate soldiers in 1861.
7 Celebration of the 250th anniversary of the English settlement at Jamestown, May 13, 1857.
OF
CHURCH BUILDINGS AND ORIGINAL GRAVEYARD THE " MOTHER CHRISTIAN TOWNE."
NE of the vexed questions concerning the first settlement is the position of the first churchyard or graveyard. It is learned from several old chronicles that the first church was within the triangular fort. The map of the Virginia settlement, procured by Zuñiga, for Philip III of Spain, in September, 1608, previously referred to, shows a church thus inclosed.
The first church, a rude hut " covered with rafts, sedge and earth," was burned within eight months of its erection. The second, erected in 1608, most probably on the same site as the first, must also have been a flimsy makeshift, for it is referred to by Sir Thomas Gates, two years after its construction, as being in an unserviceable condition, shortly after which it was recon- structed by Lord La Warr. Its dimensions in plan were sixty feet long by twenty-four feet wide, with a steeple at the west end.
As the greater part of the triangular fort, as has been pointed out, has been washed away, the site of the second church is now probably under water. No vestige of its foundations have been, or probably ever will be discovered.
When, in 1617, Captain Argall arrived at "James Towne," he discovered the church which La Warr had renovated seven years before in ruins, a storehouse being in use for divine ser- vice. During his administration, i. e., from May, 1617, to April, 1619, the third church, whose dimensions were "50 by 20 foote," was erected.
In 1639 Governor Sir John Harvey wrote to the Privy Coun- cil: " Such hath bene our Indeavour herein, that out of our owne purses wee have largely contributed to the building of a brick church, and both Masters of Shipps and others of the 5-J. T.
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THE SITE OF OLD " JAMES TOWNE."
ablest Planters have liberally by our persuation underwritt to this worke." 1
No information is available as to when the building of this, the fourth church, was begun or completed, but the latter is sup- posed to have been accomplished by about 1647. It was burned in 1676.
There is apparently no evidence as to whether this building was entirely or partly destroyed by the fire. It is probable that only the wood work, i. e., the roof and window and door frames, were burned. There is no information when the building was rehabilitated. It is presumed, however, to have been done during the partial rebuilding of the town between 1676 and 1686. The building was apparently used until about the end of the 18th century, about which time its walls fell, and the bricks composing them were used by Mr. William Lee, of Green Spring, and Mr. John Ambler, of Jamestown, to inclose a part of the old burial ground. The greater part of the graveyard walls are still standing.
In his Old Churches and Families of Virginia, Bishop Meade states, with reference to the foundations of the last brick church, which he measured during a visit to Jamestown Island shortly before 1856, that the plan of the church was that of a basilica, whose accurately measured dimensions were twenty- eight by fifty-six feet.2
In the summer of 1901, the above foundations which adjoin the eastern wall of the tower ruins, were uncovered by Mr. John Tyler, Jr., under the auspices of the Association for the Pres- ervation of Virginia Antiquities, to which society the surround- ing tract of twenty-three acres belongs.3 The average length and width within the walls are fifty and six-tenths feet and twenty-two and seven-tenths feet, respectively.
1 Letter from Governor and Council in Virginia to Privy Council. McDonald Papers, Vol. II, pp. 233-260.
2 Meade's Old Churches and Families of Virginia, Vol. I, p. III.
3 Donated to the above association by Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Bar- ney, in 1895.
Belfry
Loop-holes
Chancel Paved with Red Tiles &# 82 11"
Grave of
-3.85
Clough,16(?)
Graveyard Wall built
circa 1800
Foundation of 3rd, Church
0.5-
Fig.3
Fig. 4
Explanation: Fig. I= Foundation Plan of Fourth Church Structure Inclosing Fragments of Foundations of Third. Broken Lines Show Cor- rect Positions of But - tresses. Fig. 2 Front of Tower. Fig. 3 Section on Line A-B. Fig. 4 ", „ C-D.
I
I
ONE-Brick wall
Sexton's
1.0
Tool.
--
0
-- 515.4
- - - - 18.3 ----
18.1 -- - -- -
B
Fig.2
Fig. 1
RUINS OF CHURCH STRUCTURES ERECTED AT IAMES CITTY, VA. ABOUT 1617 AND 1639. SCALE. 4 6 8 10 12Ft 1 3 57911
The Site of Old James Towne,1607-1698.
Copyright , 1901, by Samuel H.Yonge.
Front Portal
- Juist Holes
+-50.82 .
215
2IN Footing Of
Cobblestone 8
Cenotanh
Rev. John
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
In clearing away from around the foundations the mould of more than a century, parts of the foundations of the side walls of a narrower building, whose inside width was about twenty feet, were uncovered. They consist of a footing of cobble-stones one foot thick, capped by a one-brick wall. The slenderness of the foundations indicates that their superstructure was of timber, as in the days of substantial building to which they belonged, they would have been regarded as too light for one of brick. It will be observed that the width of a building matching the foundations would be the same as given for the church built during Argall's term as deputy-governor. As only the western ends of the foundations of the two side walls remain, the length of the building they supported cannot be learned.
In making the before-mentioned excavations it is reported that three distinct sets of floor tiles were found at different levels across the east end of the building, formerly belonging to a chancel five and one-half feet by twenty-two feet, indicating that there were three church structures on the same site. The lowest layer of tiles probably belonged to the third church and, in that case, if its end walls were inclosed in the same manner as its side walls, which seems quite likely, the length of the third church would have been about fifty feet.
As the same site was used for the three church buildings erected after 1617, the churchyard, which was by custom the principal burial ground, most probably was never changed, and was probably used even before that year. The finding of a human skeleton, while excavating the foundations, crossed by a wall of the brick church near its southeastern corner, shows that there was a burial ground at its site before the first brick church was built (1639-1647), and possibly even before the building of the timber church about 1618, which covered almost all of the ground occupied by its successor.
From what has preceded there should be no room for doubt as to the lighter foundations being those of the third church structure, that built under Argall, and in use when Yeardley came to the colony in 1619. The inclosure of one structure by
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THE SITE OF OLD " JAMES TOWNE."
the other suggests that, while the later church of brick was being constructed around the earlier one of timber, the latter was used for service.
As the marriage of John Rolfe to Pocahontas occurred in 1614, it would appear that the ceremony could not have been performed in the third church, whose site, as shown above, was subsequently occupied by the brick churches, but in the second structure, 60 by 24 feet in plan, which was reconstructed by Lord La Warr, and situated within the triangular fort a short distance, probably one hundred and thirty yards, above the church tower. The third church, however, was undoubtedly the one used for the convening of the first American legislature by Governor Yeardley, on July 30, 1619.4
Although the first and second churches were within the tri- angular fort, it is not probable that the graveyard was. To have lived continually in such close proximity to their probable ulti- mate resting place would have been as distasteful to the settlers as to most people of this day. Moreover, the available area of the acre inclosure, as already demonstrated, would have been fully occupied by the buildings and streets mentioned by Stra- chey. Interments would have been made near, but outside of the triangular fort. By the time the third church was erected, about 1618, the burial ground, in consequence of the frightful mortality, must have grown to considerable proportions, and no site could have seemed more appropriate for it than the ground contiguous to that which had been consecrated as "God's Acre."
On the occasion of the celebration at Jamestown of the bicentenary of the advent of the English," "as it were by general consent the discovery of the oldest stone became an object of general emulation." "beyond 1682, nothing legible could be traced, but from the freshness of the marble
4 Colonial Records of Virginia, Extra Senate (State) Document of 1874.
" Report on the Proceedings of the Late Jubilee at Jamestown, Va., page 9.
IN THE CHURCHYARD
The sycamore tree in the middle ground grew between the tombs of Rev. James Blair, Commissary to the Bishop of London, and his wife and shattered the stones. The injury being done to the tombs was observed at the Bi-Centenary celebration in 1807.
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THE SITE OF OLD "JAMES TOWNE."
bearing this date contrasted with the surrounding masses of mutilated and mouldering decay, it was the general impression that this stone was comparatively young." As, ordinarily, gravestones do not become illegible in less than one hundred and fifty to two hundred years, the assumption is not unreasonable that some of those seen at Jamestown in 1807 belonged to the same period as the third church, although the earliest known date on any tombstone in Virginia is 1637.ª There is very good evidence that until about the 18th century many of the tomb- stones used in Virginia were shipped from across seas.
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