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This summer I spent 3 weeks in Virginia along with my cousin on a genealogical research trip and one of the highlights was Jamestown! What an awe-inspiring place! As a historian and genealogy buff, I went in there with an absolute sense of reverence for the place as it is, in essence, the birthplace of our nation. The story of the Virginia Colony has fascinated me for many years; however, simply reading books on the subject in no way prepares you for the incredible rush of excitement of actually being in Jamestown in person, walking the same grounds that our forefathers walked. I visited Jamestown on Friday June 29th, 2018.
As the FIRST permanent English settlement in the United States, the Virginia Colony was established 13 years before the Mayflower even set sail. Ironically, that ill-fated ship was destined for Virginia when it changed course (both literally and historically) and landed further north in Massachusetts.
Here’s a quick slideshow of my visit to Jamestown, the full images are available in the gallery below!
But first, here’s a brief refresher history of Jamestown.
In 1607 Virginia was first settled by merchants who held joint-stock shares in the Virginia Company. A total of 105 men set sail on 3 ships: the Susan Constant captained by Christopher Newport, the Godspeed captained by Bartholomew Gosnold, and the Discovery captained by John Ratcliffe. Among the 105 were a mix of ‘gentlemen’ and regular folk who were actually the skilled labor force supporting the colony’s ambitions and without whom the colony would have never survived.
The 3 ships did not take a direct route, they arrived circuitously via Portugal and the Caribbean. One of the interesting facts about the voyage is that no one knew exactly who was to be the leader of the colony until they arrived, for King James himself had sealed his choice in a letter that was only to be opened when the colonists had landed and set up camp. Of course the king put the ‘gentlemen’ in charge. This was to have disastrous consequences as it turns out; however, such were the times.
After the colony was initially constructed, there would be no future successes for quite some time! For just around the corner, fate had in store for the 105 men both famine and Indian attacks. The famine that scorched the Tidewater initially impacted the Native Americans and when they needed to conserve their own resources, trade was cut off to the English colonists who had not yet adapted to farming in the Chesapeake. It was called the starving time which was to last from 1607 until at least 1611!
Although settled during the reign of King James of England (hence the name Jamestown) the history of Virginia goes back to Queen Elizabeth, the virgin queen. It is for her that the colony and state of Virginia is named and that was done in the 1580s with one of England’s most prolific and colorful characters, Sir Walter Raleigh.
The colony was hit by so many hardships and atrocities that it wasn’t until the 1630s when Jamestown and Virginia was actually able to recover. It was tobacco that was its saving grace! Called the “jovial weed,” the “bewitching vegetable,” the “chopping herb of hell” (Dabney 1971: 24) among other monikers, tobacco is what gave Virginia its economic foothold in the new world.
There are a TON of great books on VIRGINIA. Here are a few recommended volumes on Jamestown and the Virginia Colony. As a first read I would recommend Virginius Dabney’s book, it’s a very well-know publication and I found it on sale at the University of Virginia bookstore in Charlottesville for only a few bucks! It was brand new too. The others I purchased in the Visitor Center gift shops.
- Dabney, Virginius. 1971. Virginia: The New Dominion, A History from 1607 to the Present. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press.
- Davis, Virginia Lee Hutchinson. 2006. Jamestowne Ancestors: 1607-1699. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company.
- McCartney, Martha W. 2012. Jamestown People To 1800: Landowners, Public Officials, Minorities, and Native Leaders. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company.
- McCartney, Martha M. 2007. Virginia Immigrants And Adventurers 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictiona Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing.
- Horn, James. 2006. A Land As God Made It: Jamestown and the Birth of America. New York: Basic Books.
- Horn, James. A Kingdom Strange: The Brief and Tragic History of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. New York: Basic Books.
- Brain, Jeffrey P. 2011. In Search Of Bartholomew Gosnold. Tuscaloosa:
You can also check out my list of books that I bought on my trip for the full #booknerd experience! Ok, here’s the slideshow without further adieu: 30 pictures of my visit to Jamestown Virginia.
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