And Coan Hall was hardly established before guests began to arrive. They came by boat, and perhaps after dark. These Protestant friends and refugees were from Lord Baltimore's "Citie of St. Mary's." It was whispered in that unhappy "citie" north of the Potomac that treason was being plotted at Coan Hall. John Mottrom's new home must have been filled to capacity in those days. Although the rooms were few we can be sure that there was no lack of beds or chairs. Rooms then, with the exception of the kitchen, had no distinct character. Beds were in every room, even in the hall where meals were taken. On a winter's night we can imagine John Mottrom dispensing hospitality at Coan Hall--food, drink and roaring fires. Great plotting and planning must have gone on before the hearths, while the passing tankards of metheglin cheered and warmed the indignant gentlemen from Maryland. Perhaps John Mottrom's guests were charmed with his new home and decided that it was easier just to settle at Chicacoan. At any rate we hear no more of treason. Instead, settlers begin to arrive in the Northern Neck. William Presley and his English wife were among the first to arrive at Chicacoan. They built at the head of a creek not far from Coan Hall. Richard Thompson and his family probably arrived early too. Richard was a young man, about twenty-seven, when he came to live at Chicacoan. He was a native of Norwich, Norfolk County, England. As a boy he had come to Virginia as an indentured servant and had served William Claiborne on Kent Island for three years. When at twenty-one Richard became a free man, he went into business for himself, trading with the Indians for beaver. He must have been a good trader for he acquired a considerable estate. He also worked as an agent for William Claiborne, which in the end brought about his downfall. When Claiborne was proclaimed an enemy by the Maryland Council, Thompson was denounced also. He was in this way forced to flee to Chicacoan. Before long a settlement had sprung up along the Coan. John Mottrom became the unofficial leader of this first white settlement in the Northern Neck. Although he did not know it, there was one among them who was to play an important part in his life--her name was Ursula, wife of Richard Thompson. _THE "KIDS"_ As soon as their homes were built the settlers at Chicacoan began to remove the forest and clear the ground for tobacco fields. The sound of axes was no doubt heard from sunrise until sunset. Then the stumps had to be dug up, and the soil had to be broken up with hoes. This hard labor was probably done by white indentured servants. These British servants were commercially known as "kids," probably because most of them were young, their ages ranging from thirteen to thirty as a rule.