Part 1

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Stewart L. Udall, _Secretary_

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Conrad L. Wirth, _Director_

_HISTORICAL HANDBOOK NUMBER TWO_

This publication is one of a series of handbooks describing the historical and archeological areas in the National Park System administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. It is printed by the Government Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D. C. Price 25 cents.

Jamestown, Virginia THE TOWNSITE AND ITS STORY

_By Charles E. Hatch, Jr._

The National Park Service cooperating with The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES NO. 2 Washington, D. C., 1949 (Revised 1957)

This publication relates to Jamestown Island, Va. A portion of Jamestown Island is included in Colonial National Historical Park and is administered by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior. Jamestown National Historic Site, the other portion of the island, is administered by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. A cooperative agreement between the Association and the Department of the Interior has been in effect since 1940 providing for a unified program of development for the whole Jamestown Island area.

_Contents_

_Page_ THE STORY OF JAMESTOWN 2 COLONIAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK 36 COLONIAL PARKWAY 36 THE STUDY OF JAMESTOWN 36 THE DEVELOPMENT OF JAMESTOWN 40 GUIDE TO THE AREA 42 HOW TO REACH JAMESTOWN 53 ABOUT YOUR VISIT 53 ADMINISTRATION 53 SUGGESTED READINGS 54

_Jamestown is the site of the first permanent English settlement in America {1607}, the point at which the first representative legislative assembly convened {1619} to set a pattern for self-government in America, the locale of stirring events in Bacon’s Rebellion {1676-77}, and the capital of the Colony of Virginia for 92 years {1607-99}._

The first permanent settlement in America by the English at Jamestown was a visible manifestation of the determination of that nation to establish itself in the New World. The overthrow of Spanish seapower during the reign of Queen Elizabeth paved the way for English colonization ventures. Enterprising Britons had already established their influence in India, the Near East, and Russia. Sir Walter Raleigh had made several unsuccessful attempts to establish an enduring settlement along the Carolina coast at Roanoke Island, events now commemorated by Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert had tried, to no avail, to make a settlement in Newfoundland.

It remained for the Virginia Company of London, under its charter of April 10, 1606, to found the first permanent English settlement in America. This joint stock company, a commercial organization, from its inception assumed a national character. It was instrumental, under its charter provisions, in guaranteeing to the settlers in the New World the rights, freedoms, and privileges enjoyed by Englishmen at home and the enjoyment of their customary manner of living which they adapted to their new environment with the passage of years.

Jamestown was the site of the first settlement that grew into the Colony of Virginia and gave heart to those men who settled the colonies that came later. The first Virginians landed in May 1607, built houses and a fort, planted crops, and began the struggle for the conquest of a vast primitive land. They brought with them their church and respect for God, maintained trial by jury and their rights as freemen, and soon were developing representative government. All of these things are a part of the story of Jamestown.

In the words of James Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States at the time of the Jamestown Tercentenary, the settlement of “Jamestown was one of the great events in the history of the world—an event to be compared for its momentous consequences with the overthrow of the Persian Empire by Alexander; with the destruction of Carthage by Rome; with the conquest of Gaul by Clovis; with the taking of Constantinople by the Turks—one might almost say with the discovery of America by Columbus.” Here was born the great English-speaking nation beyond the seas, of which Gilbert and Raleigh had dreamed; and here was the cradle of our Republican institutions and liberties.

_The Story of Jamestown_

On May 13, 1607, three small English ships approached Jamestown Island in Virginia—the _Susan Constant_ of 100 tons commanded by Capt. Christopher Newport and carrying 71 persons; the _Godspeed_ of 40 tons commanded by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold and carrying 52 persons; and the _Discovery_, a pinnace, of 20 tons under Capt. John Ratcliffe, carrying 21 persons. During the day (as George Percy, one of the party on board, relates) they maneuvered the ships so close to the shore that they were “moored to the Trees in six fathom [of] water.” The next day, May 14, he continues, “we landed all our men, which were set to worke about the fortification, others some to watch and ward as it was convenient.” Thus, the first permanent English settlement in America was begun on the shores of the James River, in Virginia, about 20 years after the ill-fated attempts to establish a colony on Roanoke Island and 13 years before the Pilgrims made their historic landing at Plymouth, in New England.

THE ENGLISH BACKGROUND.

The settlement at Jamestown, in 1607, was another step, albeit a most significant step, in England’s quest for a place in the vast New World first indicated by Columbus in his discovery of 1492 and made known to Europe through his and other expeditions. King Henry VII of England early sought to establish a claim in North America and sponsored the now famous voyage of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497. The Cabots touched points along the Atlantic coast, and their discoveries were ever afterward pointed to with pride by Englishmen discussing their rights in the New World. As William Strachey wrote, in 1612, “... our voyages hither for a while might seeme to lye slumbering, yet our tytle could not thereby out sleepe ytself...”. Despite this, England was occupied at home and in Europe and did not press this advantage. Spain took the lead in colonial settlement and held it for decades. How many Englishmen set foot on the North American continent in the first three-quarters of the 16th century may never be known. They were no strangers in the fishing waters off Newfoundland, and in this region there appear to have been landings and temporary settlements. Even so, serious attempts at colonization did not begin until the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and then it was pushed vigorously by men of the mark of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Walter Raleigh, and their associates.

Sir Humphrey lost his life in 1583 when returning from his attempted settlement of St. John’s Port, Newfoundland. Sir Walter Raleigh diligently sought to establish the English flag to the south. He sent out two colonial expeditions to found a settlement on Roanoke Island in present eastern North Carolina. Both failed in their over-all purpose. It was the expedition of 1587 (the last) which set sail for the Chesapeake Bay country and landed on Roanoke Island that has come down to us as the “Lost Colony”—the settlement that saw the birth of Virginia Dare and that left the baffling inscription suggesting that the members of the colony moved, willingly or unwillingly, to be with the Croatan Indians who lived not far from Roanoke. The early men at Jamestown knew of their countrymen who were lost in America and were under orders to seek them. This they did, but their search went unrewarded.

By 1600, England was readying herself for a concerted drive to establish colonies in the New World. The way had been prepared by the far-sighted Queen Elizabeth and her supporters. Within England there had been growth; capital had accumulated; industry was taking root; commercial organization was beginning; and Englishmen were ready for new adventures. Outwardly, England had grown through its naval successes and had developed a keen hostility to Spain. Individual Englishmen, each depending on his own circumstances, were seeking more profitable employment, personal freedom (particularly religious liberty), land ownership, personal advancement, adventure, and just plain change. A new England was in the making and the British Empire was about to rise in the West and in the Orient as well. With the accession of James I to the English throne, peace was made with Spain, a peace that was maintained although it was an uneasy one—from time to time little more than an armed truce. Yet, because of it, English capital came out of hiding and sought profitable investment. Business development increased and joint stock companies began to organize for overseas settlement.

Colonization was expensive, however, and required the pooled resources of many men. Advertising, which reached a peak early in the 17th century, was put to work in a manner that would do credit to the present day. Its use in commerce and government is by no means of recent date. Spokesmen—speakers, writers, poets, pamphleteers, playwrights, and preachers—solicited all England to take part in these new endeavors which, in their words, gave every assurance of profitable return.

The exploits of men such as Raleigh and Gilbert, Martin Frobisher, Michael Lok, John Davis, Thomas Cavendish, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir John Hawkins had already made England conscious of the potentialities of the New World and of the need to seek a part of it. Others followed these earlier leaders. In 1602 Raleigh sent yet another ship under Samuel Mace to seek the lost settlers of Roanoke, and in the same year a vessel went out under Bartholomew Gosnold who attempted a settlement on Elizabeth’s Island in present Massachusetts. Gosnold and another in this party, Gabriel Archer, were to become prominent later in the Jamestown settlement. In 1603, Martin Pring made a voyage along the northern part of Virginia. In 1605, came the expedition under George Weymouth to the Kennebec River on the New England coast. He spent some weeks here and returned to England carrying with him several Indian natives from that region.

On April 10, 1606, the first Virginia charter received the great seal of England. This document recognized two groups and two spheres of influence that would fall between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth parallels of north latitude along the American coast. One was interested in North Virginia and was granted to Thomas Hanham, Raleigh Gilbert, William Parker, George Popham, and others of and for Plymouth and other English places. This group was first in the field with exploration, dispatching a ship in August 1606 under Henry Challons. In May 1607, they sent a colony to the mouth of the Kennebec in Maine, but, in the spring of 1608, after a severe winter, the settlement was given up.

The second group, organized under the charter of 1606, was that interested in south Virginia. This patent went to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, Edward Maria Wingfield, and others of and for the city of London. The treasurer of the group was Sir Thomas Smith, one of the most capable businessmen of the day. Richard Hakluyt, the foremost authority on travel, foreign regions, and colonization in general, assembled helpful data and had a large part in the preparation of instructions and orders for those to be sent out as colonists. It was this group and their associates that organized, financed, and directed the expedition that reached Jamestown on May 13, 1607, and saw to it that supplies came through and reinforcements were procured in the lean years of the settlement.

The immediate and long-range reasons for the settlement were many and, perhaps, thoroughly mixed. Profit and exploitation of the country were expected, for, after all, this was a business enterprise and they were necessary for long-range activity. A permanent settlement was the objective. Support, financial and popular, came from a cross section of English life. It seems obvious from accounts and papers of the period that it was generally thought that Virginia was being settled for the glory of God, for the honor of the King, for the welfare of England, and for the advancement of the Company and its individual members. In England and in Virginia they expected and did carry the word of God to the natives, although not with the same verve as the Spanish. They expected to develop natural resources, to free the mother country from dependence on European states, to strengthen their navy, and to increase national wealth and power. They expected to be a thorn in the side of the Spanish Empire; in fact, they hoped one day to challenge and overshadow that empire. They sought to find the answer to agricultural unemployment at home. They sought many things, not the least of them being gold, silver, and land. As the men stepped ashore on Jamestown Island, perhaps each had a slightly different view of why he was there, yet some one or a combination of these motives was probably the reason.

THE FIRST DAYS IN VIRGINIA.

The expedition of 1607 included a cargo of supplies and 144 persons, of whom 104 or 105 (depending on which of the more detailed contemporary accounts is accepted) were to remain in Virginia as the first settlers. The expedition left England late in 1606. The ships sailed down the Thames River from London on December 20 and, after a slow start, they proceeded over the long route through the West Indies. There were stops in the islands, new experiences, and disagreements among the leaders. Captain Newport was in command, and the identity of the councilors who were to govern in Virginia lay hidden in a locked box not to be opened until their destination had been reached. Dissension at one point led to charges against Capt. John Smith who reached the New World in confinement. This was suggestive of the later personal and group feuds and disagreements that plagued the first years of the Virginia Colony.

The “Land of Virginia” was first seen by the lookout on April 26, and just a little later in the same day a party was sent ashore at Cape Henry to make sure what was the first landing in the wilderness which they came to conquer. Having been aboard ship for many weeks, the settlers found the expanse of land, the green virgin trees, the cool, fresh water, and the unspoiled landscape a pleasant view to behold. At Cape Henry they saw Indians and several of the party were wounded by their arrows, notably Capt. Gabriel Archer, one of the experienced leaders. They built a “shallop” (a small boat), went exploring into the country for short distances by land and water, enjoyed the spring flowers, and tasted roasted oysters and “fine beautiful strawberries.” On April 29, a cross was set up among the sand dunes. The next day the ships were moved from Cape Henry into Chesapeake Bay to the site on Hampton Roads which they named Point Comfort (now Old Point Comfort).

For about 2 weeks, explorations were made along both banks of the James, below and above Jamestown, from its mouth to a point as far upstream perhaps as the Appomattox River (Hopewell, Va.). Parties went ashore to investigate promising areas, and communication was established with the native tribes. On May 12, a point of land at the mouth of Archer’s Hope (now College) Creek, a little below Jamestown, was examined in detail. Capt. Gabriel Archer was particularly impressed with this location and urged that it be the point of settlement. The soil seemed good, timber and wildlife were abundant, and it appeared adaptable for defensive measures if these should become necessary. It was not possible, however, to bring the ships close to the shore, and consequently Archer’s Hope was rejected. From this site the ships moved directly to Jamestown, where they arrived May 13. On May 14, they landed and broke ground for the fort and the town that ultimately won the distinction of the first permanent English settlement in America and the capital of the Virginia Colony for almost a century.

In May 1607, the days were warm, the nights, cool. Life was stirring in the wilderness and nature had been generous, the colonists thought. There were fruits, abundant timber, deer and other animals for food, and a not too numerous native population. The hot, humid weather of midsummer and the snow, ice, and emptiness of winter were not in evidence. The choice of a site for settlement was both good and bad. The anchorage for ships at Jamestown was good. The island had not then become a true island and had an easily controlled dry land isthmus connection with the mainland. As the river narrows here, it was one of the best control points on the James. It was not used by the Indians; and it was a bit inland, hence somewhat out of range of the Spanish menace. Arable land on the island was limited by inlets and “guts.” The swamps were close and bred mosquitoes in abundance and, with contamination so easy, drinking water was a problem. All of these facts became evident to these first English Americans as the months went by.

When the orders were opened after arrival in Virginia, it was found that the governing body in the colony was to be made up of seven councilors. They were Edward Maria Wingfield, of gallant service in the Low Countries; Bartholomew Gosnold and Christopher Newport, both seasoned seamen and captains; John Ratcliffe, who piloted the _Discovery_ to Virginia; John Martin, an earlier commander under Drake; John Smith, already an experienced adventurer; and George Kendall, a cousin of Sir Edwin Sandys who later was to play a dominant role in the Virginia Company. To this list can be added other prominent names—George Percy, brother to the Earl of Northumberland and a trained sailor; Gabriel Archer, a lawyer who had already explored in the New England country; and Rev. Robert Hunt, the vicar at Jamestown, whose pious and exemplary living was noted by his associates.

THE FORT.

The work of establishing Jamestown and of exploring the country round about began almost simultaneously. The several weeks between May 13 and June 22, when Newport left Virginia for a return to England, were busy ones. At Jamestown an area was cleared of trees and the fort begun. The soil was readied and the English wheat brought over for the purpose was planted. At this point Newport, in one of the small boats, led an exploring party as far as the falls of the James (near present Richmond). He was successful in learning a great deal about the country, but did not succeed in his search for gold or silver. He was absent from Jamestown about a week and returned to find that the Indians had launched a fierce attack on the new settlement which had been saved, perhaps, by the fact that the ships were near at hand. These afforded safe quarters and carried cannon on their decks that had a frightening effect on the natives.

The fort was completed about mid-June. It was triangular in shape, with a “Bulwarke” at each corner which was shaped like a “halfe Moone.” Within the “Bulwarkes” were mounted 4 or 5 pieces of artillery—demiculverins which fired balls of about 9 pounds in weight. The fort enclosed about 1 acre with its river side extending 420 feet and its other sides measuring 300 feet. The principal gate faced the river and was in the south side (curtain) of the fort, although there were other openings, one at each “Bulwarke,” and each was protected by a piece of ordnance. The church, storehouses, and living quarters were flimsily built of perishable materials, within the walls of the palisaded fort, along fixed streets arranged around an open yard. For the first few years this fort was Jamestown.

Before the fort was completed the wheat had come up and was growing nicely, as George Percy wrote in what was probably the first essay on farming along the James River. About June 10, John Smith, partly through the intercession of Robert Hunt, was released and admitted to his seat on the council. Relations with the Indians improved. On June 21, the third Sunday after Trinity, the first recorded Anglican communion at Jamestown was celebrated. “We had a comunyon. Capt. Newport dyned ashore with our dyet, and invyted many of us to supper as a farewell.” The next day, Christopher Newport raised anchor and began the return trip to England. He took letters from those to remain in Virginia and carried accounts describing Virginia and the events that had occurred. The settlement had been made, and the future seemed promising.

SUMMER AND AUTUMN, 1607.

Within the short span of 2 months, conditions changed drastically. The Indians became cautious and distrustful, and provisions, not sufficiently augmented from the country, began to run low. Spoilage destroyed some food, and, with the coming of the hot, humid weather, the brackish drinking water proved dangerous. In August, death struck often and quickly, taking among others the stabilizing hand of Captain Gosnold. Inexperience, unwillingness, or inability to do the hard work that was necessary and the lack of sufficient information about how to survive in a primeval wilderness led to bickering, disagreements, and, to what was more serious still, inaction. They forgot a most important bit of advice that had been given them by “His Majesties Council for Virginia”: “... the way to prosper and achieve good success is to make yourselves all of one mind for the good of your country and your own...”.