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A Study of the Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island and at Green Spring, 1619-1803

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A Study of the Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island and at Green Spring, 1619-1803 A Study of the Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island and at Green Spring, 1619-1803 by Martha W. McCartney with contributions by Lorena S. Walsh data collection provided by Ywone Edwards-Ingram Andrew J. Butts Beresford Callum National Park Service | Colonial Williamsburg Foundation A Study of the Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island and at Green Spring, 1619-1803 by Martha W. McCartney with contributions by Lorena S. Walsh data collection provided by Ywone Edwards-Ingram Andrew J. Butts Beresford Callum Prepared for: Colonial National Historical Park National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Cooperative Agreement CA-4000-2-1017 Prepared by: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Marley R. Brown III Principal Investigator Williamsburg, Virginia 2003 Table of Contents Page Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................iii Notes on Geographical and Architectural Conventions ..................................................................... v Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Research Design ............................................................................................................ 3 Chapter 3. Assessment of Contemporary Literature, BY LORENA S. WALSH .................................................... 5 Chapter 4. Evolution and Change: A Chronological Discussion ....................................................... 13 Chapter 5. The Wider Context, BY LORENA S. WALSH ....................................................................................... 15 Chapter 6. 1619-1630: Arrival and Dispersion .............................................................................. 27 Chapter 7. 1630-1642: A Pivotal Period of Change....................................................................... 43 Chatper 8. 1642-1652: Berkeley’s First Term ............................................................................... 49 Chapter 9. 1652-1660: The Commonwealth Period ...................................................................... 57 Chapter 10. 1660-1677, Berkeley’s Final Term ............................................................................ 65 Chapter 11. 1678-1699: The Old Capital’s Decline and Demise .................................................... 81 Chapter 12. Three Microcosms: The Travis and Ambler Plantations and Green Spring .................... 97 Chapter 13. 1700-1792, The Plantation Period ........................................................................... 103 Chapter 14. Microcosms: The Travis and Ambler Plantations, the Broadnax Holdings, Urban Jamestown, and Green Spring ................................................................................................. 143 Chapter 15. 1793-1803: Steps Along the Path to Freedom ......................................................... 165 Chapter 16. Microcosms: The Travis and Ambler Plantations, Urban Jamestown, and Green Spring .......................................................................................................................... 167 Chapter 17. Looking to the Future .............................................................................................. 173 Chapter 18. Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................... 177 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 179 Appendices Appendix A: Travis Plantation Personal Property Tax Assessments ........................................... 205 Appendix B: Richard Ambler’s Slaves in James City County, February 15, 1768 ..................... 207 Appendix C: Slaves Listed in an Inventory of Edward Ambler I’s Estate in James City County, 1769 ..................................................................................................................... 209 Appendix D: Ambler Plantation Personal Property Tax Assessments ........................................ 211 Appendix E: Slaves Listed in Philip Ludwell III’s Inventory, 1767 ............................................ 213 Appendix F: Ludwell-Lee Slaves in James City County ........................................................... 215 Appendix G: Contract Between John Ambler II and Overseer Henry Taylor ............................. 217 Appendix H: Jamestown, Structure/Lot Concordance .............................................................. 219 Appendix I: Guide to the Database .......................................................................................... 223 Cover illustration: From Map of the Most Inhabited Parts of Virginia, Containing the Whole Province of Maryland with Part of Pensilvania, New Jersey and North Carolina, by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, 1755. Library of Congress, Washington, DC. i ii Acknowledgments ndrew J. Butts, Beresford Callum, and The author prepared a written summary of Ywone Edwards-Ingram, graduate stu- the documentary records compiled by other project Adents at the College of William and personnel and analyzed the legal records that were Mary, were responsible for data collection. Ms. collected. She contributed information on Native Edwards-Ingram, a doctoral candidate at the Col- American servitude and slavery, including supple- lege and an archaeologist with the Colonial Will- mentary background data drawn from local and iamsburg Foundation, supervised the data regional records and documents in the British Public collection process and saw that facsimiles of all Records Office. relevant documents were clustered categorically and Karen Rehm, Diane Stallings, and Jane cross-referenced. She also prepared an elec- Sundberg of the National Park Service, who were tronic data base that not only encompasses all of keenly interested in this project, were highly sup- the sources examined, but serves as a topical guide portive and set its goals. They also provided the to the records collected. Volunteer Billy project team with direction. Gregory J. Brown of Stinson generously shared his computer exper- the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s Department tise and helped with the data entry process. of Archaeological Research contributed his exper- Drs. Marley R. Brown III and Lorena S. tise by refining and formatting this report. Heather Walsh provided overall guidance and direction M. Harvey prepared the graphics used throughout to the Jamestown-Green Spring African Ameri- this report and was responsible for electronic map- can study. Dr. Walsh also prepared two criti- ping. Archaeologist and expert photographer An- cally important essays. One assesses the quality drew C. Edwards, who provided many of the slides and quantity of the contemporary literature used in public presentations, helped tremendously available on the study of Africans and African in communicating the results of our work to the Americans in the colonial Chesapeake. The outside world. Staff members in Colonial other, which draws upon her extensive knowl- Williamsburg’s Rockefeller Library (notably George edge of the Chesapeake’s history, utilizes the Yetter, Gail Greve, Marianne Cardin and Cathy data summarized in this report to place Grosfils) assisted by procuring copies of graphics Jamestown and Green Spring within a broad his- and overseas documents. torical context. iii iv Notes on Geographical and Architectural Conventions or convenience in referring to lots and build- Study Unit 3 ings in Jamestown, the author relies upon Study Unit 3 abuts the James River on the east, conventions developed during the F Orchard Run and Kingsmill Creek on the west, Jamestown Archaeological Assessment (1992- Passmore Creek on the north, and the James River 1996). Lots are designated by “study unit” and on the south. “tract” following a system developed by the author in Documentary History of Jamestown Island , Volume II: Land Ownership, by Martha W. Study Unit 4 McCartney and Christina A. Kiddle (National Park Study Unit 4 abuts east upon Orchard Run, west Service, 2000). The basics of this system are re- upon the head of Pitch and Tar Swamp (west of printed in the section below. the Ludwell Statehouse Group), north upon the southern boundary line of Study Unit 1, and south Spatial Organization of upon the James River. Lotholding Jamestown Island has been subdivided into four Structure Numbers geographically distinct components or Study Units. Buildings that have been found during archaeologi- Each Study Unit is comprised of lesser-sized par- cal investigations follow the NPS terminology first cels that have been designated Tracts. Some Tracts developed by John Cotter in the 1950s. This con- are made up of smaller subunits that have been sists of arbitrary structure numbers (for example, styled Lots. Seventeenth-century Jamestown’s cor- Structure 112 or S-112), assigned in the order that porate limits embraced Study Units 1 and 4 in their foundations were uncovered. This list is currently entirety. Excluded was the territory encompassed maintained by Colonial National Historical Park by Study Units 2 and 3. curators. Complexes of interlocked foundations or oth- Study Unit 1 erwise interrelated foundations are referred to by Study Unit 1 is bound by Kingsmill Creek on the structure numbers separated by slashes (e.g., east, Sandy Bay on the west, and the Back River Structure 44/53/138). This
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