Round About Jamestown

LIBRAR$ of CONGRESS Two Copies Received J$ N 1 2 1 90 7 Entry Co r z fzt 1 0 E D a v i s py g , 9 7 , . PREFACE T is perhaps essential that the term Lower Vi r ” ginia Peninsula as used in this book should be ’ defined . I mean by it that part of Virginia lying between the James and the York Rivers and extending from Jamestown and Williamsburg to Fortress Mon roe which is the portion occupied by the first Eng $ lish settlers in America and of special interest on that account . It is for this reason that but few facts m m in the history of Norfolk and Rich ond are entioned , and those chiefly the ones which have some connec tion with the section chosen for more detailed descrip tion . In placing before the public these chapters of early Virginia history I W ish to express my indebtedness to a i es the friends who h ve urged their publ cation , and peci ally to those who have verified the facts contained R v . m e . m m . in the . Pro inent a ong the latter are C B m c . D D . Bryan , . , of Petersburg , for erly re tor of St ’ il m . W John s Church , Ha pton ; Dr Lyon G Tyler , of m a . lia and M ry College ; Maj or I N Lewis , of the Ar r tillery School at Fort Mon oe ; Miss Lottie Garrett, n o of Williamsburg ; Mrs . Ja ie H pe Marr , of Lexing ton ; and Miss Cary, of Richmond . The principal authorities consulted were Captain John Smith , Stith , Bruce , Howe , Fiske , John Esten ' ’ Strache s Cook, and Rhodes . For the use of y His ’ Trav aile m and tory of into Virginia , Statutes, . He ing s and other rare books , as well as old magazines news papers in the excellent Virginia collection in the W M I n Library of illiam and ary College, am i debted to the courtesy of President Tyler . Most of the half- tones used in illustration are loaned S outher n W or kman n in by the , of Hampton , Virgi ia, which magazine these sketches first appeared . V . J . E . DA IS Va . I 1 0 . Hampton , , May , 9 7 S CONTENT . CH APTER I P PR . JAMESTOWN, AST AND ESENT II HAM PTON ROADS AND THE JAMESTOWN TERGEN TE NNI AL OLD F R POINT COMFORT AND ORT ESS MONROE . OLD KECOUGHTAN TH E VIRGINIA PENINSULA IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUR$ R P PI ATES OF THE VIRGINIA CA ES . TH E VIRGINIA PENINSUL A IN THE EIGHTEENTH TH E VIKINGS OF HAM PTON IN T HREE W ARS HAM P TON S CHOOLS BETWEEN 1 850 AND 1 870 ’ VIRGINIA S SECOND COLONIAL CAP ITAL . $ W ER O OF R $ . ORKTOWN, THE AT LO THE EVOL TION RICHMOND AND THE JAMES RIVER PLANTATIONS . S ILL$ STRATION . TH E JAMESTOWN TOWER T H E GRAVE$ ARD AT JAMESTOWN R I P P F W O . RA S, OR ORT OL F G OLD W B $ ORT MONROE, SHOWIN THE ATER ATTER AT THE MOUTH OF JAMES RIVER SH I RLE$ ON THE JAMES T H E OLDEST E NGLISH COMMUNION SERVICE IN AMERICA . T H E OLDEST CUSTOM HOUSE IN AMERICA ( $ ORKTOWN ) TH E W H C N $ . ISTORI ELSON MANSION, ORKTO N ’ G V V CARTER S RO E, JAMES RI ER AN EIGHTEENTH CENTUR$ MANOR HOUSE ’ T P . S . C H . JOHN S CHUR H, AM TON ’ T S . P C N AUL S CHUR H , ORFOLK ’ AR ST . JOHN S AT THE CLOSE OF THE CI VIL W HAM P TON HOS P ITAL . CHESAP EAKE FEMALE COLLEGE T H E BUTLER S C HOOL FOR CONTRABANDS TH E BEGINNINGS OF HAM PTON I NSTITUTE W ILLIA M AND MAR$ COLLEGE BRUTON PARISH T H E W B COURTHOUSE AT ILLIAMS URG . T H E MAIN STREET OF $ ORKTOWN T H E E H $ MOOR OUSE, ORKTOWN T H E OLD P C CA ITOL, RI HMOND ’ H C . R C ISTORI ST JOHN S , I HMOND LOWER BRANDON A S W A AND R J ME TO N , P ST P ESENT HAT pictures are conj ured up by the name Jamestown , what recollections crowd upon o us , what contrasts c me unbidden to the mind $ Three hundred years ago in this “ Cradle of ” the Republic lay an infant country, tiny and weak , without money , without food , with nothing, indeed , but an immense though hidden Vitality and an um bounded persistenc e which gave it power to grow in S of pite of adverse circumstances , in Spite every m a imaginable drawback , into a ighty nation , world ‘ benefi cen t a power, stretching out its h nds into the m i re otest corners of the earth . I n imag nation we sail m 1 60 6 down the Tha es in December , with that little handful of English settlers . First southward to the Azores and then westward we travel for many months , until finally Captain Newport pilots us through the Virginia capes , and the long, hard voyage is ended 2 6 1 60 m on April , 7, when we dise bark on a sandy S pit of land and name the spot Cape Henry . Here we rest while the sealed orders of the London Com pany are opened and we learn that we are to settle ” much further inland . We board the vessel again and sail across the Bay to the broad river which we name the James , and whose shores we explore for many a mile seeking dutifully for a suitable place for a settle o rt and P r esen t J a mes t wn, Pa t ment . This we think we find at an attractive spo e about thirty miles from the mouth of the river, wher the water is deep so close to the shore that we can S on tie our hips to the trees , and here we disembark a beautiful May day . A Virginia spring is full of m pro ise , and all is so fair on this charming morning that we do not think to remind our friends that we are disobeying the order which says that we shall not nd a , settle in a low or moist place , we busy ourselves in giving thanks to God in our improvised church under the sailcloth , for our safe arrival . Now there are trees to be felled and a fort to be built, for yonder , across the narrow neck of land, we n ofte catch glimpses of savages , and though they come among us on friendly errands , we cannot trust ’ m them . And so , in a month s ti e , we build our fort e and inside place our houses in straight rows . W are content with very plain houses ; indeed they are not much more than huts , but we roof them with marsh grass and pile earth on top to keep them dry . Finally we build us a chapel in the middle of the en - a closure , and though it is but homely thing like a barn and we roof it, as we do our own houses , With grass and earth, in it we can worship God and praise H im f r a $ for preserving us thus a . But las there are ‘ dissensions among our leaders ; the malaria of the Swamps that we forgot to consider attacks many of our number ; we have not enough to eat ; and we must stop our building and clearing of land to lay one and m another in his grave . Before the end of the su mer W e bury over sixty of our companions and those of W ho us are left wonder how soon we Shall follow . 8 o s ese t J ames t wn, Pa t and Pr n W e on live as we can, having much to do and little t o streng h with which to do it, seeing m re English come to join us with many mouths to feed and little enough to put in them . Our leaders fight among themselves and we have no one in command Whom we can respect . We have fire after fire which destroys our property and we grow discouraged trying to replace it . In the cold of winter many die from exposure and we pull ' down even our palisades to use for firewood . Our supplies give out entirely and the people live on roots and herbs until things finally come to such a pass that even dead human bodies are eaten by the most desper ate . Of the five hundred people who have come to the n are Colo y but Sixty left, scarcely able to totter about e e and the place . W decide to abandon the s ttlement we start back to England, glad to flee from our misery . ‘ But before we reach the capes W e meet Lord de la Warre , who has come to be our governor . He has plenty Of provisions and he takes us back to our ruined m settle ent to make a fresh start . New fortifications were now built by the colonists and the houses were repaired . Cedar pews and a wal nut altar were placed in the church and every Sunday W as t e it was decorated with flowers . A bell hung in h onl called tower , which not y ‘ the people to church , but m notified the when to begin and stop work .

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