Part 4

In March 1646, measures were taken to discourage the sale of liquors on the island, and a system of licensed ordinary keepers was adopted. Later in the year, houses for the encouragement of linen manufacture were projected for Jamestown. In 1649, the General Assembly established a market and near the market area was the landing for the ferry that ran across the James to Surry County. Even this new action, however, failed to develop a town of any great extent. The same was true of the Act of 1662 which attempted to encourage a substantial building program for the capital town. Only a few houses were erected before the new impetus had spent itself, and, in 1676, it is known that the town was still little more than a large village. One of the more detailed descriptions at this time relates that “The Towne ... [extended] east and west, about 3 quarters of a mile ... [and] comprehended som[e] 16 or 18 houses, most as is the church built of brick, faire and large; and in them about a dozen families (for all the howses are not inhabited) getting their liveings by keeping of ordnaries, at extreordnary rates.”

THE COMMONWEALTH PERIOD.

The decade of 1650-60 corresponds to the period of the Commonwealth Government in England. Virginia, for the most part, appeared loyal to the crown, yet in 1652 the colony submitted to the new government when it demonstrated its power before Jamestown. Governor Berkeley withdrew to his home at Green Spring, just above Jamestown, and the General Assembly assumed the governing role, acting under the Parliament of England. Virginia was given liberal treatment, with considerable freedom in taxation and matters of government. The governors in this interval, elected by the assembly, were Richard Bennett, Edward Digges (an active supporter of the production of silk in Virginia), and Samuel Mathews. In 1660, on the death of Mathews, the assembly recalled Berkeley to the governor’s office, an act that was approved by Charles II, who was restored to the English throne in that year. The decade passed quietly for the colony, although, in the years that followed, it had occasion to remember the liberal control that it had enjoyed. It had witnessed an increased wave of immigration that brought some of those who were fleeing from England, and this more than offset the loss of the Puritans whom Berkeley had forced out of the colony prior to 1650.

In matters of religion, Virginia continued loyal to the Church of England, although there was considerable freedom for the individual. The Puritans found it uncomfortable to remain, however, and two Quaker preachers, William Cole and George Wilson, soon found themselves in prison at Jamestown. Writing “From that dirty dungeon in Jamestown,” in 1662, they described the prison as a place “... where we have not the benefit to do what nature requireth, nor so much as air, to blow in at a window, but close made up with brick and lime....” Lord Baltimore (George Calvert) did not find the colony hospitable when he visited Jamestown with his family in 1629, for, being a Roman Catholic, he could not take the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy which denied the authority of the Pope.

BACON’S REBELLION, 1676-77.

Bacon’s Rebellion, one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of the English colonies, stands out as a highlight in 17th-century Virginia. It broke in spectacular fashion and is often hailed as a forerunner of the Revolution. It constituted the only serious civil disturbance experienced by Virginia during its entire life as a British colony. It occupies a prominent spot in the annals of the times, and in any chronicle of Jamestown its significance can be multiplied many times, for a number of its stirring events took place at the seat of government and resulted in excessive physical destruction in the town.

The rebellion had its origin in Indian frontier difficulties and a royal Governor (Sir William Berkeley) who, possibly as a result of his involvement in the Indian trade, had become somewhat dictatorial, tyrannical, and a firm advocate of the _status quo_. The leader for the exposed frontiersmen and the generally disgruntled Virginians came in the person of Nathaniel Bacon, a young man of good birth, training, and education who had come to Virginia in 1674. A distant kinsman of Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon and a relative of another Nathaniel Bacon, who was a leading citizen of Virginia, he soon became established as a first-rate planter at Curles, in Henrico County, and was admitted to the Governor’s Council not long after his arrival.

Considerable underlying discontent had been aroused in Virginia by the low prices for tobacco, the cumulative effects of the Navigation Acts, high taxes, and autocratic rule by Berkeley, whose loyal supporters permeated the government structure and had not allowed an election of burgesses for 15 years. The spark came from the depredations of the Susquehanna Indians who were being forced south by the powerful Iroquois. They made attacks all along the Virginia frontier. Berkeley ordered a counterattack, but cancelled it in favor of maintaining a system of forts along the edge of the western settlements. In March 1676, the Assembly at Jamestown made plans for new forts; this measure, however, was both time-consuming and ineffective. Among the leaders who assembled at the falls of the James for consultation regarding the Indian menace was the young Nathaniel Bacon. William Byrd I was there, too, and, even though he was the officer who had been named to guard the frontier, Bacon was placed in command of the men sent to attack the enemy Indians. A messenger left to request a commission for him from the governor. Berkeley replied that he would discuss the matter with his Council. Bacon then set out with his men to collect allies from among the friendly Indians. While Bacon was on the march he received word from Berkeley ordering him to return or be declared a rebel. Bacon did not turn back but continued into the wilderness in search of the enemy. Action came at Occaneechee Island. Bacon returned with captives and was hailed as a hero by those who had heard of his exploits.

Governor Berkeley realized that the situation was becoming critical and that he could lose control of his government. Prompt action was necessary. He dissolved the House of Burgesses and ordered a new election. The result was that many of his loyal adherents were replaced by representatives, some of whom were unfriendly, even hostile, to him. The new assembly convened in the Statehouse at “James Citty” on June 5, 1676, and among the burgesses was the defiant Bacon who had been returned by the voters of Henrico. An announced rebel and not yet formally removed from the council, it is doubtful that he was eligible for his seat, yet he determined to go to Jamestown and present his credentials.

He boarded his sloop, accompanied by about 40 supporters, and sailed down the James. When near Jamestown he sent ahead to inquire whether he would be allowed to enter the town in peace. A shot from a cannon in the fort gave the negative answer. Despite this, Bacon secretly went ashore at night to confer with two of his friends then living in Jamestown—William Drummond, a former governor in Carolina, and Richard Lawrence, a former Oxford student. Later that night he returned to his boat and started back up the James, but was taken by an officer whom Berkeley had sent out to apprehend him. A dramatic scene followed at Jamestown.

Bacon was brought before the governor, paroled, and restored to the council. Berkeley knew that his opponent had the upper hand and that the House of Burgesses, then in session, was against him. Bacon seemingly could have remained in the capital and personally directed a full program of economic and political reform. This evidently was not his aim. He demanded a commission to go against the Indians, and, when Berkeley delayed, he disappeared from Jamestown, later saying that his person was in danger, although this appears unlikely. Bacon now entered a course from which he could not turn back. With a sizable group of supporters, on June 23, he returned again to Jamestown. He crossed the isthmus “... there le[a]veing a party to secure the passage, then marched into Towne, ... [sent] partyes to the ferry, River & fort, & ... [drew] his forces against the state house.” In the face of this show of force, the governor gave him a commission, and the burgesses passed measures designed to correct many old abuses. Among the new laws was one establishing the bounds of Jamestown to include the entire island and giving the residents within these bounds the right, for the first time, to make their own local ordinances.

By this time Bacon and his men were arrayed solidly against both governor and royal government. The issue was defeat or independence for Virginia, but Virginia was not yet ready and did not elect to face the issue. Bacon, it seems, wanted extreme measures, and there is evidence to indicate that he visualized the formation of an American Republic. Yet when Bacon established himself as the opponent of royal government in Virginia and subordinated his role as supporter of the frontier settlers against misrule, he lost popular support. Had he lived and succeeded in arms, it is questionable that the people would have backed him, for they had not shown much disposition to defy royal authority. The discontent at this time was not so much against that authority as against the misuse of it by Sir William Berkeley.

The issues having been drawn, Bacon pursued his course to the bitter end. He returned to Henrico. When about to move a second time against the Indians, news came that Berkeley was attempting to raise troops in Gloucester County. Consequently, it was to Gloucester that Bacon first moved, only to find that his opponent had withdrawn to Accomac, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. On August 1, at Middle Plantation (later Williamsburg), Bacon sought to administer his oath of loyalty and to announce his “Declaration of the People” to those assembled there at his summons. His next move was against the Pamunkey Indians. Then it seemed necessary that he move again on Berkeley who now had returned to Jamestown.

On September 13, 1676, he drew up his “few weake and Tyr’d [tired]” men in the “Green Spring Old Field,” just above Jamestown, and posted lookouts on Glasshouse Point. Then he ordered the construction of a trench across the island end of the isthmus. A raiding party advanced as far as the palisade, near the edge of Jamestown proper. Berkeley ordered several ships brought up as close to the shore as possible. Their guns and the small arms of the men along the palisades opened fire against Bacon, but proved ineffective in routing him from his entrenchments. On September 15, Berkeley organized a sally, “with horse and foote in the Van,” which retreated under hot fire from Bacon’s entrenchments. At this point Berkeley’s force lost heart, while his opponent’s spirit reached a new high. In any event, after a week of siege, the governor felt compelled to withdraw from Jamestown. This he did, by boat, with many of his supporters. This was the high point of Bacon’s fortune in arms, and a costly one. Seemingly, it was during the fatiguing siege, which came “in a wett Season,” that he contracted the illness that caused his death and brought an abrupt end to the rebellion.

Following Berkeley’s withdrawal, Bacon and his tired force marched into Jamestown for rest. Wholesale destruction followed. As a contemporary put it, “Here resting a few daies they concerted the burning of the town, wherein Mr. Laurence [Richard Lawrence] and Mr. [William] Drummond owning the two best houses save one, set fire each to his own house, which example the souldiers following laid the whole town (with church and State house) in ashes....” It is known from the records that the destruction was systematic and that the town suffered heavily from the burning. Among those losing homes and possessions of high value were Col. Thomas Swann, Maj. Theophilus Hone “high sheriff of Jamestown,” William Sherwood, and Mr. James’ “orphan,” the last to the value of £1,000. It was estimated that total losses reached a value of 1,500,000 pounds of tobacco. Again the idea was advanced to move the seat of government from Jamestown to some more desirable location. A little later, Tindall’s (now Gloucester) Point, on the York, was given preferential consideration by the assembly as a fit location. The move was not made, however, and the capital remained at Jamestown for another quarter of a century.

From Jamestown, Berkeley moved once more to the Eastern Shore. Bacon, whose men pillaged Green Spring (Berkeley’s home on the mainland, just above Jamestown) on the way, marched to Gloucester, where he became ill and died on October 26, 1676. The rebellion, now without a real leader, quickly collapsed. Joseph Ingram, successor to Bacon, and Gregory Wakelett, cavalry leader in Gloucester County, surrendered in January 1677; Lawrence disappeared in the Chickahominy marshes; and Drummond was promptly hanged. Berkeley moved with haste to silence his opponents, making ready use of the death sentence.

Accommodations for the conduct of government were now wholly inadequate at Jamestown. Consequently, Berkeley called the assembly to meet at Green Spring, which functioned for a time almost as the temporary capital. In February 1677, the commissioners who were sent to investigate Bacon’s Rebellion arrived in Virginia. With them came about 1,000 troops who encamped at Jamestown for the remainder of the winter and ensuing spring. The commissioners, among them Col. Herbert Jeffreys, the next governor, finding so much ruin and desolation at Jamestown, made their headquarters in the home of Col. Thomas Swann across the James from the capital town. Berkeley left for England in May, and Jeffreys took control in Virginia. It was not until March 1679, however, that definite action (following a recommendation of the investigating commissioners) was taken for the restoration of Jamestown. Then it was ordered, in England, that the town be rebuilt and made the metropolis of Virginia “as the most ancient and convenient place.”

JAMESTOWN REBUILT.

Lord Culpeper reached Virginia in May 1680, with instructions to rebuild Jamestown and to develop it into an urban center. In 1683, he was able to report that he had given all possible encouragement to this enterprise and that, although he himself was living at Green Spring, considerable activity had begun. He mentioned specifically that Nathaniel Bacon (the kinsman of the rebel), Joseph Bridger, and William Sherwood had substantial work under way. A little later the fourth statehouse was completed, as was the church. By 1697 the town had been rebuilt and boasted of a statehouse, country house, church, fort, powder magazine, and 20 or 30 houses. In this period William Sherwood, for a time attorney general for the colony, was a major landholder on the island and in the town. Others included Robert Beverley, author of one of the early histories of Virginia; William Edwards, clerk of the Council; Henry Hartwell; and John Page. It was in 1686 that John Clayton, minister at Jamestown, offered proposals for draining the marshes nearby to improve the healthfulness of the spot, a project that never materialized.

STATEHOUSE BURNED AND CAPITAL MOVED.

On October 31, 1698, a fire consumed the Statehouse, prison, and probably other buildings at Jamestown, although the records and papers were saved. This fire led to the removal of the seat of government to Middle Plantation (Williamsburg)—a spot favored by the Governor, Sir Francis Nicholson. Thus, Jamestown was abandoned as the seat of government after 92 years. Its mission had been accomplished, and it had seen Virginia grow from the small settlement of 1607 into a colony of great extent, with a population of perhaps 80,000.

LATER YEARS AT JAMESTOWN.

The removal of the capital ultimately proved the death blow for Jamestown, for this eliminated the primary reason for its existence. Decline set in immediately, but Jamestown retained a seat in the assembly for another three-quarters of a century. Its end as a town, legally and physically, may be given as the period of the American Revolution. There was a military post here early in that struggle. Later, it became a point of exchange for American and British prisoners of war, and it featured in the maneuvers leading to the Siege of Yorktown. It witnessed the movement of Cornwallis’ army across the James and was a landing and resting point for American and French soldiers being sent to join Washington’s allied army.

Even before 1700, property on Jamestown Island was being consolidated into a few hands. The consolidation continued unabated after this date, and before the middle of the 18th century the major part of the island was in the hands of two families—Ambler and Travis—each of which had its own “mansion.” The Travis family estate at Jamestown had grown slowly since before 1650, and Richard Ambler, of Yorktown, acquired, through marriage, the extensive Jaquelin, formerly Sherwood, holdings. After 1830, the island came under a single ownership. Under the Amblers and Travises and later owners of the island, even parts of the townsite itself became farm land and functioned as an integral part of the plantation system which earlier events at Jamestown had helped so materially to create.

The fields, and woods, and marshes lay quietly on the James for generations, contributing in a small, but important, manner to a growing country. Americans often remembered the early years of the colony and the momentous events that had taken place on the island, and joined here to commemorate the deeds of their forefathers. There was the Bicentennial of 1807, the Virginiad of 1822, the 250th anniversary in 1857, and the Tercentennial of 1907. In the years between these events there were thousands who came individually and in small groups, the famous and those now unknown. It was this remembrance and loyalty to one of its great landmarks that led to the establishment of Jamestown Island as a national historic shrine.

_Jamestown National Historic Site_

The first organized effort toward saving the Jamestown area came in 1893 when the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities acquired 22.5 acres of the old townsite. This land, donated for preservation by Mr. and Mrs. Edward E. Barney, embraced the Old Church Tower, the graveyard, and the west end of the townsite.

The Association which was chartered in 1889 is better known, perhaps, as the APVA. It is a non-profit organization interested in the acquisition, preservation, and restoration of “ancient historic grounds, buildings, monuments, and tombs in the Commonwealth of Virginia” and in the collection and care of relics associated with them or with the history of the State. Its Jamestown property is one of a number of holdings which it administers. Another is the 17th-century Warren House on the Rolfe property in Surry County just across the James River from Jamestown.

Until 1934 the Association was the sole active agency working at Jamestown to conserve and interpret the site for the American people. As the custodian of a significant part of the site of old “James Towne,” it continues working to promote measures insuring the protection of the site and making it available for your use and inspiration. Landscaping, limited reconstruction, some restoration, and the stabilization of the remains of the Old Church Tower, the tombs, and foundations have all been a part of its program, together with the acquisition and display of Jamestown relics. In its work, it has solicited and received aid from various organizations, particularly patriotic societies, in the placement of memorials, and related activities. The Memorial Church was constructed by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The Association was especially active in preparation for the Jamestown Exposition in 1907.

The Association was successful in its efforts to encourage the United States Government to construct the seawall which was built by Col. Samuel H. Yonge in 1900-1901 to halt bank erosion by the James River along the Association grounds. Colonel Yonge became a serious student of Jamestown history and wrote _The Site of Old “James Towne,” 1607-1698_, a work still available through purchase from the Association. In 1907, the Association made available the grounds on which the Tercentenary Monument was erected, and again in 1956 it provided land on which to place the Jamestown Visitor Center.

In 1940 the Association entered into agreement with the United States of America, through the Secretary of the Interior, to provide for a unified program of development and administration for the island. It was at this time that the APVA grounds were designated as Jamestown National Historic Site. The joint cooperative agreement continues in force and the Association and the National Park Service are working together to preserve, maintain, and interpret this historic area.

In 1956 it became possible to present the townsite as a single unit when the ferry to the island and the State highway crossing the island were moved upriver above Jamestown. The APVA and the Service then combined their separate museum exhibits to form the displays now seen in the Visitor Center, and consolidated other operations at the center where both are hosts to Jamestown visitors.

_Colonial National Historical Park_

In 1930, by Presidential proclamation, all of Jamestown Island’s 1,559.5 acres (equally divided between marsh and dry land) were included within the boundaries of Colonial National Monument. The monument designation was changed to that of a national historical park by act of Congress in 1936. Actual Federal ownership of the island (other than the 22-acre Association tract) was obtained in 1934, and some years later, a bit of the mainland opposite the western tip of Jamestown was added because of its close ties to the site.

Colonial National Historical Park is made up of several areas of which Jamestown is one. It includes, as well, the Cape Henry Memorial, at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, where the first settlers who established Jamestown first stopped in Virginia; the Yorktown Battlefield; and the Colonial Parkway.

_Colonial Parkway_

This 23-mile scenic motor road connects historic Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Along its course are descriptive markers that give bits of history which often show the interrelation of Jamestown (where the Nation began), Williamsburg (the 18th-century capital of Virginia where important elements of our Revolutionary leadership were nourished), and Yorktown (where the climatic battle in our struggle for independence was fought).

_The Study of Jamestown_