History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of VirginiaCampbell, Charles
History
History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia
Campbell, Charles
Virginia -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Virginia -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
Sir Thomas Dale, when he came over to Virginia, was accompanied by Rev.
Alexander Whitaker, the son of Dr. William Whitaker, Master of St.
John's College, Cambridge, and also Regius Professor of Divinity there.
The doctor distinguished himself by his controversial writings against
the Church of Rome, and took a leading part in framing and maintaining
the Lambeth Articles, which were Calvinistic, and had they been
established, might have gone far toward healing the divisions between
the Church of England and the Presbyterians. Rev. Alexander Whitaker,
when he reached Virginia, had been a graduate of Cambridge some five or
six years, and had been seated in the North of England, where he was
held in great esteem. He had property of his own and excellent prospects
of promotion; but, animated by a missionary spirit, he came over to
Virginia. The voyage is described as speedy and safe, "being scarce
eight weeks long."
The Appomattox Indians having committed some depredations, Sir Thomas
Dale, about Christmas, 1611, captured their town, near the mouth of the
Appomattox River where it empties into the James. The town was five
miles distant from Henrico. Sir Thomas, pleased with the situation,
established a plantation there, and called it Bermudas, the third town
erected in Virginia, now known as Bermuda Hundred, the port of Richmond
for ships of heavy burden. He laid out several plantations there, the
Upper and Lower Rochdale, West Shirley, and Digges' Hundred. In
conformity with the code of martial law each hundred was subjected to
the control of a captain. The Nether Hundred was enclosed with a
palisade two miles long, running from river to river, and here, within a
half mile of each other, were many neat houses already built. Rochdale,
or Rock's Dale, enclosed by a palisade four miles in length, was dotted
with houses along the enclosure; here the hogs and cattle enjoyed a
range of twenty miles to graze in securely. About fifty miles below
these settlements stood Jamestown, on a fertile peninsula, with two rows
of framed houses, some of them with two stores and a garret, and three
large store-houses. The town was well enclosed, and it and the
neighboring region were well peopled. Forty miles below Jamestown, at
Kiquotan, the settlers enjoyed an abundance of fish, fowl, and
venison.[107:A]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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