Upon returning to Jamestown, Smith was caught in the meshes of a feuding council. All was forgotten early in January, however, when Newport reached Jamestown with the first supply for the settlers. He brought food, equipment, instructions, and news from home. His cargo was not sufficient, but for the moment this was overlooked. The two ships of the supply had left England together, but the second did not reach Virginia until April. Shortly after Newport’s arrival in January, disaster came to Jamestown. Fire swept through the fort, consuming habitations, provisions, ammunition, and even some of the palisades. This was a serious blow in the face of winter weather. With the help of Newport and his sailors, the church, storehouse, palisades, and cabins were partially rebuilt before he sailed again for England early in April. Much more could have been done had he not consumed so many days in a pompous visit and lengthy negotiations with the wily Powhatan. Then, too, the ships had to be loaded for the return voyage, for the London backers were loudly calling for profitable produce. The first of the spring months were spent in cutting cedar logs and preparing “clapboards” for sale in England, and a little later there seems to have been a mild “gold rush” at Jamestown as some hopeful looking golden colored soil was found. This all delayed early spring clearing and planting, and boded ill for the coming summer when Ratcliffe wasted precious days building a house suitable to his position and Smith engaged in important, yet not particularly pressing, explorations. THE FIRST MARRIAGE AT JAMESTOWN. It was in September 1608 that Smith became president in fact and inaugurated a program of physical improvement at Jamestown. The area about the fort was enlarged and the standing structures repaired. At this point, in October, the second supply arrived, including 70 settlers, who, when added to the survivors in Virginia, raised the over-all population to about 120. Among the new arrivals were two women—Mistress Forrest and her maid. Several months later, in the church at Jamestown, the maid, Ann Burras, was married to one of the settlers, John Laydon, a carpenter by trade. This marriage has been ranked as “the first recorded English marriage on the soil of the United States.” Their child, Virginia, born the next year, was the first to be born at Jamestown. Here was the beginning of family life in the new colony. Soon other women would arrive to help continue, or to establish, new homes. THE SECOND SUPPLY AND EARLY INDUSTRY.