One Hundred and four of Virginia’s colonists, having made landfall three days earlier, erect a wooden cross at what they named Cape Henry, the southern boundary entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. By doing so, they are thanking God for their safe passage and claim the land for King James I.  The cape is named for their king’s eldest son, Henry Frederick Stuart. In keeping with instructions of the Virginia Company of London, a search for a good defensible place to colonize ensues.

Jamestown in relation to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service

After 127 days at sea, three shiploads of 104 English settlers arrive on the shore of present-day Virginia. They designate their landing spot at the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, Cape Henry. Cape Henry is named after Henry Frederick Stuart, the oldest son of King James I and later, the northern cape is named for Charles Stuart, the son who succeeded his father as King in March of 1625.
 
Upon landing at Cape Henry, Captain Christopher Newport opened the sealed instructions issued by the Virginia Company.  Fortunately for John Smith, it named him as a leader of the colony. Smith had been charged with mutiny while at sea and was to be hanged upon arrival at Virginia. This saved Smith from the gallows. They erect a cross and proclaim the land for their King. Indians mount a small attack and the party of three ships (the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery) move further inland to locate a secure site for settlement in keeping with the aforementioned instructions.
 
The settlement of James Citte is founded less than three weeks later on a small island situated near the northern shore of what was later named the James River. Sent and financed by the Virginia Company of London, the colonists/adventurers are hoping to find gold and other valuable resources waiting to be plucked from the shore.  Alas, no riches were found.
 
Thus James Citte, or Jamestown as it came to be known, was the first permanent English settlement in North America.

-John Graves, Jamestowne Society Communication Committee 2018-2019

​More than 500 Virginia settlers are killed in a major Powhatan uprising. This event touched off a two-year war between the Natives and the Colonists, ending in the capture and executing of Powhatan chief Opechancanough.

Dr. John Woodson, great (x8) grandfather of Lewis & Clark Company Governor John Graves, is among those killed. His two sons, John and Robert, as well as his wife, Sarah, survived with the aid of Robert Ligon who used the doctor's rifle as they fought off the attack from within the Woodson cabin. At the onset of the attack, Sarah hid son John under a large wooden tub and son Robert under the floor in a small root cellar. To this day, Woodson descendants are known as either Tater-hole or Tub Woodsons. Sarah killed one Indian who had climbed down the chimney by dowsing him with scalding hot water and then beating him with a fireplace poker. Now, there is a woman to be admired.

Photo of Dr. John Woodson's rifle used by Robert Ligon is show below.

-John Graves, Jamestowne Society Communication Committee 2018-2019
 

On July 30, 1619 the first elected law-making assembly in the New World convened in the choir of the Jamestown Church. 400 years later, descendants of the men who founded America and made their way to the James Fort for this significant event in Virginia's Colonial History will gather at the church to celebrate the beginnings of a 'government by the people and for the people.'

The year 1619 saw two other great events that shaped life in America for centuries. They are definitely defining moments in our history.

First, the introduction of a tobacco plant into the Virginia Colony by John Rolfe, an ardent smoker, and the cornerstone of a highly successful economy. For years this sweet tasting tobacco was "the gold standard" in currency for the colony and a highly sought after commodity in England.

Secondly, ​that same year and only a dozen after the 1607 landing and just one year before the Pilgrims stepped ashore at Plymouth Rock, the first Africans arrived in the Virginia Colony at Jamestown with implications that would unfold for centuries to come.

Come join The Jamestowne Society as we bring the founders of English America living at Jamestown Island alive in this blog. Learn about the beginnings of America!

-Susan Evans McCrobie, Jamestowne Society Communication Committee Chair 2018-2019