Early American roots lead to the Jamestown Colony

Friday, December 13, 2013

By Susan Doak

SW Nebraska

Genealogy Society

McCOOK, Nebraska -- The second English colony to be established in the New World was Jamestown, which just happens to be where the first of my mother's relatives set foot in the United States. Jamestown began in 1607, a full 13 years prior to the pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock (Massachusetts) and was situated on the mouth of the James River.

As was true for all the early expeditions, Jamestown came about because a group of investors (The Virginia Company of London) hoped to profit from the colonization of the Americas. Unlike the settlers on Roanoke Island, no women traveled with the first three ships: The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Recovery. 105 passengers made that voyage led by Captain Christopher Newport and one day after choosing a spot in the bay that they felt was defendable, work on the settlement began. Being able to defend themselves proved to be important when a few days later, they were under attack by Native Americans, Algonquin speaking Indians led by Chief Powhatan. One settler was killed in this first skirmish.

When researching ancestors among those landing in Jamestown, you can find lists of the original members at: http://apva.org/rediscovery.

Names listed in Old English spelling include such recognizable names as: Powell, Webbe, Martin, Kendall, Dixon, Crofts, Brookes, Gore, Couper and Garret.

One always wonders what went through some of the people's minds as they set sail for the New World, but you can be fairly certain that the large number of "Gentlemen" had no idea what they had signed up for.

Upper-class English gentlemen did not do labor in those days and the first ship was comprised mostly of those, causing Jamestown to suffer from a lack of laborers and farmers.

When Captain John Smith took over as the colony's leader in late 1608, he enacted a "no work, no food" policy and also became instrumental in establishing trading with the Powhatan for food.

The first European women arrived at Jamestown in 1608 on the ship Mary and Margaret. Thomas Forrest, Esq. traveled with what is believed to have been his wife, Mistress Forrest, and her maide, Anne Burras. It is thought that his wife died soon after landing, but Anne went on to marry John Laydon and was still alive in 1625 according to a "muster" or census of population.

Also on that second ship were the first non-English settlers who were of German and Polish descent bearing the names of: Adam, Franz and Samuel. These workers and others like them staged the first recorded strike in Colonial America for the right to vote in the 1619 election.

The Jamestown colony struggled to be self-supporting until 1613, when John Rolfe (who married the famous Indian maiden Pocahontas) began raising tobacco. Thus began the true settling of what would become the royal colony of Virginia because tobacco production required more land. It also spurred the arrival of the first indentured servants from Europe and the first Africans who originated from the kingdom of Ndongo in Angola.

My relative that landed in Jamestown was the direct ancestor from whose lineage my mother and aunt became eligible to be DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) members. In my next article I will outline how to trace your family to the American Revolution with DAR records.

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