In 1634, the Virginia Colony was politically reorganized from four parishes to eight shires or counties: Accawmack (an Indian name meaning "the-across-the-water-place"; the name was later changed to Northampton, an English county name and the two present counties of Accomack and Northampton occupy the same original site), Charles City (named for King Charles), Charles River (changed to York in 1642-43 in honor of the Duke of York), Elizabeth City (formerly Kiccotan--named for Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James), James City (named for King James), Henrico (named for Prince Henry, son of King James), Warrosquyoake (changed to Isle of Wight in 1637--some of the early patentees had come from the Isle of Wight in the English Channel: the word, "wight," means a passage or channel; therefore, it means "island of the channel"), and Warwick River (changed to Warwick in 1642-1643, named after the Earl of Warwick who was a prominent Virginia Company member). These counties were the second oldest unit of local government in the United States, the New England town being the first. The long distances between plantations and the difficult transportation facilities on land and on the rivers discouraged the use of the New England Town Meeting type of local government in the Virginia Colony. The counties themselves were patterned after the English counties. At this same time, suffrage was extended to all free male citizens for electing members of the House of Burgesses and county officials. On February 12, 1634, Benjamin Syms of Elizabeth City County gave 200 acres of land plus 8 cows for the establishment of a free school for white children. This was the first legacy for the promotion of public school education, and Elizabeth City County was the birthplace of the Virginia public school system. In 1642 Sir William Berkeley arrived in Virginia as a royal Governor. Until this time, there had been much religious tolerance in the Virginia Colony although the Church of England was the Established Church of the Colony. The religious laws were liberal, and other religions had existed without interference. Sir Edwin Sandys had encouraged some Separatists (Puritans) to live in Virginia, and by the time of the dissolution of the Virginia Company charter, thirteen parishes had been created and many clergymen had been active in the colony. Governor Berkeley was an extremely strong defender of the King and of the Church of England and disliked the Quakers and the Puritans very much. He was directly responsible for driving most of them from the Virginia Colony by enforcing a statute of 1643 which provided that no individual who disbelieved the doctrines of the English Church could teach, publicly or privately, or preach the gospel within the limits of Virginia.