Jamestowne Society
Jamestowne Society
3901 Midlands Road, Williamsburg, VA 23188
804-353-1226
jamestowne.society@verizon.net
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Fall 2008 Membership Meeting  

November 8, 2008  
The Commonwealth Club, Richmond, Virginia
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On Saturday, November 8, 2008, members and guests met at the Commonwealth Club, 401 West Franklin Street, Richmond, for the Fall Meeting. Council met at 9 AM, followed by a Reception between 11:30 and 12:30, and Luncheon at 12:30 PM in the Ballroom. Those attending the November 8 meeting enjoyed a delicious luncheon featuring either pan-seared salmon or pork scallopini.  New Officers and Members of Council were elected by acclamation by the membership, after their names were presented for nomination. 


Click photos below to enlarge.  

Fall 2008 Meeting Presentation - Captain John Smith's Chesapeake Bay  
by Dr. Kent Mountford
Dr. Kent Mountford, noted author and researcher, presented information on how the Chesapeake Bay region likely appeared to the early English explorers who visited the region in 1607 and 1608. Dr. Mountford is co-author with Helen C. Rountree and Wayne E. Clark of "John Smith's Chesapeake Voyages 1607-1609," published by the University of Virginia Press in 2007, and is the author of "Closed Sea: From the Manasquan to the Mullica." He is Ecologist and Environmental Historian for the Cove Corporation in Lusby, Maryland.

The photos below are from the presentation given by Dr. Mountford, and illustrate the history of the Chesapeake Bay for the last several hundred years, and provide information on the early explorer, Captain John Smith, and on the native population.


Click each image to enlarge.  The captions can be read in the enlarged images or by hovering your mouse over the images.
Many observations were recorded
Illustrations of Capt. John Smith at age 28, and in England at age 36
Outline of the presentation
Interesting question about early map illustration
Shorelines of 1608 are not in existence today due to erosion
Almost all of the Chesapeake Bay watershed was forested
Forests provided different layers of protection and support
The Mantle of Powhatan, in an English museum today, has an interesting detail
The shells sown on the ancient mantle are fossils, secured with deer sinew
The early appearance of buffalo in the region may be verified by the buffalo tail used as ornamentation
Early sample of Tulip Poplar leaves from the region
Oak timbers of large size were useful for shipbuilding
Capt. John Smith noted seeing cypress trees eighteen feet in circumference
Changes in the Bay region cannot be undone without reforestation in large numbers
It is hard to imagine today the clarity of the waters seen by Smith
Water was so clear that the bottom could be seen in all but the Bay's deepest channels
Plankton were not as numerous
Salt-Marsh Periwinkles still populate the region
The destruction of wetlands has removed a valuable environmental filter
Hunting has reduced some species and eliminated others
Bottom-feeding fish were plentiful in colonial times
Atlantic sturgeon fished almost to extinction
Is this an early illustration a menhaden school?
A photo of a menhaden school
An early description of fish so plentiful that catching them with a frying pan was attempted
Are the fish which are closing in on the menhaden bluefish?
Colonial oysters larger, grew faster
An oyster about 20 years old
19th century oystering knew no bounds
Picturesque oyster sloops were prevalent in the 19th century
200,000 bushels of oyster shells near Norfolk
Most of the Bay's oyster population has been lost
Capt. Smith ran aground at what would later be called Stingray Point
A cow-nosed stingray
A school of cow-nosed stingrays
Capt. Smith apparently thought his short sword would suffice to attack even stingrays
Stingrays sport ferocious spines which can inflict fatal wounds
Capt. Smith, although stabbed by a stingray spine, was saved
Although the island which Smith would have seen has disappeared, Stingray Point remains



Last Update:  7 October 2014
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​Jamestowne Society 
3901 Midlands Road
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804-353-1226
jamestowne.society@verizon.net

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