William Hilton to cousin, 1621
Dear Cousin,
When we arrived at new Plymouth, in New England, we found all our friends who had
come before us to be in good health. The Indians who live around us are peaceable and friendly.
The climate here is mild and good for planting. There are many fruits that grow here naturally.
Trees like those in England cover the land. The forests are full of animals of all sorts. There are
great flocks of wild turkeys, quails, pigeons and partridges. There are many great lakes filled
with fish, water birds, beavers, and otters. The sea provides us with plenty of all kinds of
excellent fish. We all own land here. Most of the settlers here are very religious and honest
people. We have church services every Sunday. We have everything a person needs to be happy
here. Please send my wife and children to be with me here.
Your loving relative,
William Hilton
Questions
1. How does William Hilton describe New England?
2. Why do you think he left his wife and children behind with his cousin in England?
3. If you read this letter do you think that you would be willing to leave your home and settle in
New England? Why or why not.
1
Excerpt from the journal of John Winthrop, 1639
[Note: John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, kept a journal for most of his
adult life. In a section of his journal he listed five “false principles” that were hurting the
colony.]
1. A businessman buys goods cheap and sells them for a very high price.
2. When a businessman loses goods in a ship wreck or an accident, he raises the price of other
goods in the store so that he will not lose money.
3. A businessman sells goods even though they may not be of good quality.
4. Businessmen use their skills as salespersons to take advantage of a customer’s lack of
knowledge about a product or the customer’s need to have the product.
5. Businessmen take advantage of customers who buy on credit by charging interest.
Questions
1. Why would Winthrop consider these business practices to be “false principles?”
2. What can you infer about life in the Puritan colony from this list of business practices?
3. Are these considered to be “false principles” today? Why or why not?
2
Children for the Colony of Jamestown
[Note: In 1619 the Virginia Company arranged for 100 children aged 12 and older to be sent to
Virginia to work as indentured servants. Indentured servants had their passage paid to North
America in return for working for a period of time, usually about five to seven years. The
following year officers of the company wanted another 100 children to be sent to Jamestown.
This time children were not willing to be sent to America and protested. Sir Edwin Sandys, who
had taken over control of the Virginia Company, wrote for permission to send the children
against their will. The children were sent to Jamestown.]
Your Honor:
Since I am unable to speak to the House of Lords [upper branch of the English
Parliament] in person, I have presumed to address my case in these few lines to your Honor. The
City of London has by act of their Common Council, appointed one hundred children of the great
number of hopeless children in this city to be sent to Virginia. In Virginia they will be taught a
useful trade for a certain number of years. This will be very helpful for the children. Now it
seems that a number of these children are not willing to go. The City of London does not wish to
be burdened with these idle children. In Virginia they will work for strict masters who will teach
them to be good citizens. Since this City does not have the right to send unwilling children to
America, it is left up to me to get higher authority to send them. May it please your Honor to
give the Company here in London, and to the colony of Virginia, this just and honorable favor.
This will help both the City and our Company out of this difficulty.
Questions
1. Why would the city of London want to send the children to America?
2. Why do you think the children were unwilling to go? What evidence can you find that would
explain their unwillingness to go to Jamestown?
3. What arguments does Lord Sandys use to get permission to send the children to Jamestown?
4. According to Lord Sandys, will the children benefit from being sent to work in America as
indentured servants?
3
Richard Frethorne, A Letter Home, 1623
[Note: Richard Frethorne came to Jamestown as a young indentured servant. We have no record
of his age when he arrived. Richard wrote a letter home to his parents on March 20, 1623 three
months after landing in Virginia. In those three months two-thirds of his shipmates died. Richard
described life as an indentured servant in Jamestown and begged his father to pay the money
owed for his passage to America so that he can return home.]
Loving and kind father and mother I am writing to let you understand that I, your child,
am in a serious danger. This country causes much sickness. We have all sorts of diseases that
make our bodies weak. When we are sick we have no medicine or anything to help us get well.
Since I got off the ship, I never ate anything but peas and a watery boiled cereal. Since I arrived
here I have never seen deer. There are some chickens but we are not allowed to go and get them.
We must work hard from early morning to late in the evening for a meal of watery cereal and a
mouthful of bread and a little beef. People cry out day and night, Oh that they were in England.
They would rather be at home without an arm or leg even if they had to beg from door to door.
Here we live in fear of the enemy every hour. We are in great danger, for our colony is very
weak.
There is nothing here but sickness and death. I am not half, not even a quarter, as strong
as I was in England because we have so little food. . . . I have eaten more in a day at home than I
eat here for a week. . . . If you love me you will pay the company for my passage to America
immediately. I beg you. Good father, do not forget me, but have mercy and pity my miserable
case. I know if you could see me now you would cry seeing how bad off I am. The answer of
this letter will be life or death for me; therefore, good father, send for me as soon as you can. . . .
Questions
1. What is Richard asking his father to do?
2. How bad are conditions in the Virginia colony?
3. Do you believe that Richard is exaggerating the conditions in Jamestown? Why or why not?
4. How can you tell if Richard is accurately describing life for an indentured servant in Virginia?
5. What additional evidence do you need to find out if Richard was being truthful?
4
Journey to Pennsylvania, 1756
Note: Gottlieb Mittelberger, a native of Germany, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1750 and stayed
for four years before returning home. In 1756 he published an account of poor German
immigrants who were sent to the colony as workers. In his pamphlet Mittelberger reported that
these workers were rounded up by agents who made promises to them that they never intended to
keep or just tricked them into sailing to America. In the passage below the author describes life
in Pennsylvania for these German workers.
After a long and tiresome voyage when the ships finally came in sight of land the
passengers all creep from below deck to see the land in the distance. They weep for joy, and pray
and sing, thanking and praising God for living through the voyage. The sight of the land makes
the people on board the ship, especially the sick and the half-dead, alive again. They have
suffered in silence during the voyage and are now shout and rejoice that they have reached land
alive. But sadly there is more hardship ahead!
When the ships have landed at Philadelphia after their long voyage, no one is permitted to
leave them except those who had the money to pay for passage. Others, who cannot pay, must
stay on board the ships until they are purchased. The healthy are favored and purchased first.
Those who are sick and miserable must often stay on board the ships docked at the city for two
or three weeks before they are purchased. Some of the sick die waiting to be bought.
The sale of human beings in the market on board the ship is carried out in this way: every
day Englishmen, Dutchmen, and prosperous Germans . . . come from Philadelphia and other
places and go on board the newly arrived ship. Here they bargain with the workers to determine
how many years they must work to pay for their passage from Germany to Pennsylvania. When
they have come to an agreement adults sign a paper saying that they agree to work for three to
six years to pay the debt. The stronger they are the less time they will have to work. But, young
people from ten to fifteen years old, must work until they are twenty-one years old to pay off the
debt.
Many parents must sell or trade away their children like so many head of cattle. The
parents often do not know where their children are being taken . . . and usually do not see their
children again for many years. Some never see them again.
Often whole families—husband, wife, and children—are separated by being sold to
different people, especially when they did not have any part of their passage money.
If a husband or wife died at sea after the ship has sailed half the distance, the survivor has
to either pay or serve time working not only for himself or herself but for the family member
who died.
When a person has served his or her time working off the debt, he or she is allowed a new
suit of clothes if it was agreed to. . . . In addition a man will get a horse and a woman a cow.
Anyone who runs away because of bad treatment he or she will not get far. Laws have been
5
made for such cases and a runaway is soon found and brought back. Anyone who returns
someone that tried to run away is given a good reward.
If such a runaway has been away from a master one day, he or she must serve an
additional week for punishment. If the runaway escapes for a week, he or she must serve an
additional month. If gone for month before being returned, an additional half-year of work is
added on to the agreement. If the master decides not to keep the runaway after being returned to
him, he may sell him or her for as many years as left in the agreement plus time for running
away.
Considering what a person has to go through, let everyone stay in his own country and
support himself and his family honestly. Besides, I say you are foolish if you are talked into
leaving your homes by promises from these thieves. No one should believe that roasted pigeons
will fly into their mouths in America or in Pennsylvania without their working for their food.
Questions
1. Why would people agree to leave their homes to work in Pennsylvania?
2. What service did a person have to perform to pay for the passage over?
3. Why did the author write this pamphlet?
4. How did he describe life in Pennsylvania for the German immigrant?
5. How was the agreement the German worker had to make to pay for his or her passage
different from that of an indentured servant in Virginia? How was it different from slavery?
6
Benjamin Franklin to Peter Collinson, 9 May 1753
Germans who come to Pennsylvania are generally the most ignorant and stupid people of
that country. They are not used to liberty and don’t know how to behave in a land that offers
freedom. I remember when they did not vote in our elections. But now they come in large
numbers and expect to vote on issues they know nothing about. Today they expect legal papers
to be written in German. I suppose that in a few years we will have to have interpreters in the
colonial assembly so that our lawmakers will understand what they are saying. In short unless
they stop coming in large numbers they will outnumber us. Then we will not be able to preserve
our own language and may even lose our own government.
Questions
1. What is Franklin’s opinion of German immigrants?
2. Why do you think he was so concerned about the numbers of Germans who were settling in
Pennsylvania?
3. According to Franklin, what is going to happen if they continue to settle in the colony?
7
Powhatan Speaks to Captain John Smith
Captain Smith, you may understand that I having seen the death…of my people…I know
the difference of Peace and War better than any in my Country. …What will it avail you to take
… by force what you may quickly have by love… What can you get by war, when we can hide
our provisions and fly to the woods. . . . Think you I am so simple, not to know it is better to eat
good meat, …sleep quietly…, laugh and be merry with you…then be forced to flee from all, to
lie cold in the woods, feed upon Acorns, roots, and such trash, and be so hunted by you, that I
can neither rest, eat, nor sleep…. Let this therefore assure you of our loves, and want of that,
every year our friendly trade shall furnish you with Corn; and now also, if you would come in
friendly manner to see us, and not thus with your guns and swords as to invade your foes.
Theodor de Bry, 1628
8
Edward Waterhouse, The Barbarous Massacre, 1622
Thus have you scene the particulars of this massacre…wherein treachery and cruelty
have done their worst to us, or rather to themselves; for whose understanding is so shallow, as
not to perceive that this must needs be for the good of the Plantation. . . . Because our hands
which before were tied with gentleness and fair usage, are now set at liberty by the treacherous
violence of the Savages… So that we, who hitherto have had possession of no more ground than
their waste, …now by right of War, and the law of Nations, invade the Country, and destroy
them who sought to destroy us; whereby we shall enjoy their cultivated places…Now their
cleared grounds in all their villages…shall be inhabited by us….
Victory of them may be gained many ways; by force, by surprise, by famine in burning
their corn, by destroying and burning their Boats, Canoes, and Houses, breaking their fishing
Wares, by assailing them in their hunting, where by they get the greatest part of their sustenance
in Winter, by pursuing and chasing them with our horses, and blood-Hounds to draw after
them…and tear them...Because the Indians who before were used as friends may now most justly
be compelled to servitude and drudgery, and supply the room of men... [who] may employ
themselves more entirely in their Arts and Occupations… while the Savages perform their
inferior works…
Questions
1. What is Powhatan saying to Smith? How do you think Smith responded to Powhatan’s
speech?
2. How does de Bry communicate the events of March 22, 1622 in his engraving?
3. Is de Bry’s portrayal of the attack on settlers at Jamestown a primary source? Explain why or
why not?
4. Why did Edward Waterhouse argue that Opechancanough’s attack on the Virginia
settlements was actually good for the colonists?
5. What methods does he advise the setters to use in destroying the Indians?
9
Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania, 1681
Certain conditions, or concessions, agreed upon by William Penn, Proprietary and
Governor of the province of Pennsylvania, find those who are the adventurers and purchasers in
the same province, the eleventh of July, one thousand six hundred and eightyone.
…
XIII. That no man shall, by any ways or means, in word, or deed, … wrong any Indian,
but he shall incur the same penalty of the law, as if he had committed it against his fellow
planter, and if any Indian shall abuse, in word, or deed, any planter of this province, that he shall
not be his own judge upon the Indian, but he shall make his complaint to the governor of the
province, or his lieutenant, or deputy, or some inferior magistrate near him, who shall, to the
utmost of his power, take care with the king of the said Indian, that all reasonable satisfaction be
made to the said injured planter.
XIV. That all differences, between the planters and the natives, shall also be ended by
twelve men, that is, by six planters and six natives; that so we may live friendly together…
preventing all occasions of … mischief.
XV. That the Indians shall have liberty to do all things relating to improvement of their
ground, and providing sustenance for their families, that any of the planters shall enjoy.
The Treaty of Penn with the Indians, Benjamin West, c. 1772
10
Penn’s Treaty with the Indians, Edward Hicks, c. 1840
Peaceable Kingdom, Edward Hicks, c. 1834
11
Questions
1. How did William Penn’s religious beliefs influence his policy towards the Leni Lenape of
Pennsylvania?
2. Why do you think William Penn established a policy of fair treatment to the Indians of
Pennsylvania?
3. Why were differences between colonists and Indians to be settled by six colonists and six
Indians?
4. How do the artists Benjamin West and Edward Hicks portray Penn’s policy towards the Leni
Lanape?
5. How accurate is Benjamin West’s painting Penn’s Treaty with the Indians? What evidence
can you give to justify your answer?
6. What mood was Edward Hicks trying to accomplish by painting animals and children in the
foreground of Peaceable Kingdom?
7. How are Hicks’ two paintings Peaceable Kingdom and Penn’s Treaty with the Indians
similar?
8. Which of these paintings, if any, would you consider to be a primary source? Explain.
12
The Salem Covenant of 1629
We Covenant with the Lord and one with another; and doe bynd our selves in the
presence of God, to walke together in all his waies, according as he is pleased to reveale himselfe
unto us in his Blessed word of truth.
The Enlarged Salem Covenant of 1636
We covenant with our Lord, and one with another; and we do bind our selves in the
presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself
unto us in his blessed word of truth; and do explicitly, in the name and fear of God, profess and
protest to walk as followeth, through the power and grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We avouch the Lord to be our God, and our selves to be his people, in the truth and
simplicity of our spirits.
We give our selves to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the word of his grace for the teaching,
ruling and sanctifying of us in matters of worship and conversion, resolving to cleave unto him
alone for life and glory, and to reject all contrary ways, canons, and constitutions of men in his
worship.
We promise to walk with our brethren, with all watchfulness and tenderness, avoiding
jealousies and suspicions, back-bitings, censurings, provokings, secret risings of spirit against
them; but in all offences to follow the rule of our Lord Jesus, and to bear and forbear, give and
forgive, as he hath taught us.
In public or private, we will willingly do nothing to the offence of the church; but willing
to take advice for our selves and ours, as occasion shall be presented.
We will not in the congregation be forward either to show our own gifts and parts in
speaking or scrupling, or there discover the weakness or failings of our brethren; but attend an
orderly call thereunto, knowing how much the Lord may be dishonoured, and his gospel, and the
profession of it, slighted by our distempers and weaknesses in public.
We bind our selves to study the advancement of the gospel in all truth and peace; both in
regard of those that are within or without; no way slighting our sister churches, but using their
counsel, as need shall be; not laying a stumbling-block before any, no, not the Indians, whose
good we desire to promote; and so to converse, as we may avoid the very appearance of evil.
We do hereby promise to carry our selves in all lawful obedience to those that are over
us, in Church or Commonwealth, knowing how well pleasing it will be to the Lord, that they
should have encouragement in their places, by our not grieving their spirits through our
irregularities.
13
We resolve to approve our selves to the Lord in our particular callings; shunning idleness
as the bane of any stake; nor will we deal hardly or oppressingly with any, wherein we are the
Lord's stewards.
Promising also unto our best ability to teach our children and servants the knowledge of
God, and of His Will, that they may serve Him also; and all this not by any strength of our own,
but by the Lord Jesus Christ; whose blood we desire may sprinkle this our Covenant made in his
name.
Covenant of Exeter, New Hampshire, July 5, 1639
Whereas it hath pleased the Lord to Moue the heart of our Dread Soveraigne Charles, by
the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France & Ireland, to grant license & liberty to
sundry of his subjects to plant themselves in the westerne partes of America: Wee, his loyall
subjects, brethren of the church of Exeter, situate & lying upon Piscataquacke, wth other
inhabitants there, considering wth ourselves the holy will of god and our owne necessity, that we
should not live whout wholesome lawes & government amongst us, of wch we are altogether
destitute; doe in the name of Christ & in the sight of God combine ourselves together, to erect &
set up amongst us such government as shall be to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of
god, professing ourselves subjects to our Sovereign Lord King Charles, according to the Libertys
of our English Colony of the Massachusetts & binding ouselves solemnly by the grace & helpe
of Christ & in his name & fear to submit ourselves to such godly & christian laws as are
established in the realme of England to our best knowledge, & to all other such lawes wch shall
upon good grounds, be made & inacted amongst us according to God, yt we may live quietly &
peaceablely together, in all godliness and honesty.
Mon., 5th d., 4th, 1639.
[Signed by John Whelewright and thirty-four others.]
THE ELDERS OR RULERS OATH
You shall swear by the great and dreadful Name of the High God, Maker and Governor
of Heaven and earth and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of the Kings and rulers of the earth,
that in his Name and fear you will rule and govern his people according to the righteous will of
God, ministering justice and judgement on the workers of iniquite, and ministering due
incouragement and countenance to well doers, protecting of the people so far as in you lieth, by
the help of God from foreigne annoyance and inward desturbance, that they may live a quiet and
peacabble life in all godliness and honesty. So God be helpful and gracious to you and yours in
Christ Jesus.
14
THE OATH OF THE PEOPLE
We do swear by the Great and dreadful Name of the High God, Maker and Governor of
heaven and earth, and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Saviour of his people, that in his
Name and fear, we will submit ourselves to be ruled and governed according to the will and
word of God, and such wholsome laws and ordinances as shall be derived there from by our
honored Rulers and the lawful assistants, with the consent of the people, and that we will be
ready to assist them by the help of God, in the administration of justice and preservation of the
peace, with our bodies and goods and best endeavours according to God. So God protect and
save us and ours in Jesus Christ.
Questions
1. How would you describe these covenants? What purpose do they serve?
2. What are the similarities and differences between the covenants of Salem and the covenant of
Exeter?
15
Ship Passenger Lists
Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery (Jamestown, 1607)
Alicock, Jeremy gentleman
Archer, Captaine Gabriell gentleman
Behethland, Robert gentleman
Brinto, Edward mason
Brookes, Edward gentleman
Brookes, John gentleman
Brumfield, James boy
Bruster, William gentleman
Capper, John carpenter
Cassen, George laborer
Cassen, Thomas laborer
Cassen, William laborer
Clovill, Ustis gentleman
Collier, Samuell boy
Couper, Thomas barber
Crofts, Richard gentleman
Dixon, Richard gentleman
Dods, John laborer
Edward, Ould laborer
Emry, Thomas carpenter
Ford, Robert gentleman
Garret, William brick layer
Golding, George laborer
Gore, Thomas gentleman
Gosnold, Anthony gentleman
Gosnoll, Captaine Bartholomew council
Herd, John brick layer
Houlgrave, Nicholas gentleman
Hunt, Master Robert preacher
Johnson, William laborer
Kendall, Captaine George council
Laxon, William carpenter
Laydon, John laborer
Love, William taylor
Martin, Captaine John council
Martin, George gentleman
Martin, John gentleman
Midwinter, Francis gentleman
Mutton, Richard boy
Peacock, Nathaniel boy
Percie, Master George gentleman
Pickhouse, Dru gentleman
Pising, Edward carpenter
Powell, Nathaniell Capt, gentleman,
Profit, Jonas sailor
*Ratliffe, Captaine John council
Read, James blacksmith
Robinson, John gentleman
Rods, William laborer
Sands, Thomas gentleman
Skot, Nicholas drum
Small, Robert carpenter
Smyth, Captaine John council
Snarsbrough, Francis gentleman
Studley, Thomas gentleman
Tanker, William gentleman
Tavin, Henry laborer
Throgmorton, Kellam gentleman
Todkill, Anas carpenter
Unger, William laborer
Waler, John gentleman
Webbe, Thomas gentleman
White, William laborer
Wickinson, William Surgeon
Wingfield, Master Edward Maria council
Wotton, Thomas Surgeon
*John Ratcliffe was captured by Powhatans
Indians and tortured to death by the
women.
16
Mayflower (Plymouth Plantation, 1620)
Alden, John: the ship's Cooper; from Harwich, Essex, and Southampton, Hampshire, bound for
Plymouth; a ‘hopeful young man’ hired at Southampton, married Priscilla Mullens and
had eleven children; died 1687, Duxbury
Allerton, Issac: from St Andrews Undershaft, London, bound for Plymouth; chosen assistant to
the governor; remarried to Fear Brewster after Mary died
*Allerton, Mary Norris: from Newbury, England, married in Leiden, Holland, died Feb 25 1621;
Part of Pilgrims who fled to Holland; delivered stillborn son on board Dec 1620; died in
the first sickness
Allerton, Bartholomew: son of Issac and Mary, born in Holland; married and died in England
Allerton, Remember: daughter of Issac and Mary, born in Holland; married Moses Maverick in
Salem, had three or four children
Allerton, Mary: daughter of Issac and Mary, probably born in Holland, died Nov 28 1699;
married Thomas Cushman at Plymouth, had four children
*Allerton, John: no comments; died the first winter; probably relative of Issac Allerton, buried a
child in Holland; planned on returning to Holland to escort others over
Billington, John: first to be hung 1630, for murder of John Newcomen; from London and/or
Austerfield, Yorkshire, bound for Plymouth. Ref: Bradford & Hunter; not from Leyden,
or the Leyden Company, but from London; from Lincolnshire
Billington, Eleanor: wife, remarried a Gregory Armstrong
Billington, John: son, died in a few years, was gone before his father was hanged; serious
troublemaker who wandered off to the Indians but 'rescued' by the Pilgrims
Billington, Francis: son, married and had eight children; the son who shot off a musket inside the
ship cabins; married Widow Eaton (Francis Eaton's 3rd wife) and had nine children, both
died 1684 in Middleboro; daughter Rebekah was born June 8, 1647 Plymouth
Bradford, William, Gov: from Scrooby, Nott, bound for Plymouth; second governor, author of
the history of the Plymouth Colony, lived to the year 1657; he had left a son in England
to come afterwards - had four children by a second marriage
*Bradford, Dorothy (May): wife of William; drowned Dec 7, 1620 at Cape Cod, Providetown
Harbor; died soon after their arrival
Brewster, Elder William: ruling Elder, lived some twenty-three or four years after his arrival
17
Brewster, Mary: wife; died between 1623 and 1627
Brewster, Love: married, lived to the year 1650, had four children
Brewster, Wrestling: youngest son
*Brittenridge, Richard: first to die after landing, died from sickness; from Prittlewell, Essex,
bound for Plymouth
Browne, Peter: from Billericay, Essex, bound for Plymouth; lived some fourteen years after, was
twice married and left four children; died 1633
*Button, William: died Nov 6, three days before land was sighted; servant for Samuel Fuller,
died on the passage
*Carter, Robert: servant to shoemaker William Mullens; died the first winter
*Carver, John: from Doncaster, Yorkshire, bound for Plymouth; chosen first Governor at Cape
Cod, died the first spring
*Carver, Katherine (Leggett) (White): wife; died a few weeks after her husband, in early summer
*Chilton, James: from Canterbury, Kent, bound for Plymouth; died in the first sickness; another
married daughter came afterward
*Chilton, Mrs: wife, died in the first sickness
Chilton, Mary: daughter, married and had nine children
*Clarke, Richard: died from sickness
Cooke, Francis: lived until after 1650; his wife and children came afterward, they had 6 or more
children
Cooke, John: son, married and had four children
Cooper, Humility: cousin of Edward and Ann Tilley; returned to England
*Crackstone, John: died in the first sickness
*Crackstone, John: son, died soon after his father
Doty, Edward: from St Mary le Strand, London, bound for Plymouth; servant, had 7 children by
second marriage; after his term of service went to Virginia
18
Eaton, Francis: from Bristol, Gloucestershire, bound for Plymouth; had three children by a third
marriage
*Eaton, Sarah: wife, died in the first winter
Eaton, Samuel: son, married, had one child
Ely, Mr.: hired hand ret to England; one of the two seamen hired to remain a year, possibly why
counts are off
*English, Thomas: hired hand, no comment in
*Fletcher, Moses: from Sandwich, Kent, bound for Plymouth; died from sickness
*Fuller, Edward: died in the first sickness.
*Fuller, Mrs. Edward: wife, died in the first sickness
Fuller, Samuel: son, married and had four children
Fuller, Doctor Samuel: from Redenhall, Norfolk, bound for Plymouth; the physician; his wife
and child remained, and came afterwards; they had two more children
*Gardinar, Richard: became a seaman and died abroad
*Goodman, John: died from sickness
*Holbeck, William: servant to William White; died soon after landing
*Hooke, John: servant to Issac Allerton; died in the first sickness
Hopkins, Stephen: from Wotton Edge, Gloucestershire, bound for Plymouth; and from St Mary
Whitechapel, London, bound for Plymouth; lived over twenty years after their arrival,
had a son and four daughters born in this country
Hopkins, Elizabeth Fisher: wife, lived over twenty years after their arrival, had a son and four
daughters born in this country
Hopkins Giles: son by first marriage, had four children
Hopkins Constance: daughter by first marriage, had 12 children
Hopkins Damaris: son
Hopkins Oceanus: born en route
19
Howland John: from London, bound for Plymouth; Manservant, afterwards married the daughter
of John Tillie, and had ten children.
*Langmore, John: servant to Christopher Martin; died soon after their arrival
Latham, William: a boy, after more than twenty years, visited England and died at the Bahama
Islands
*Leister, Edward
*Margesson, Edmund: died from sickness.
*Martin, Christopher: from Billericay, Essex, bound for Plymouth; died soon after their arrival.
*Martin, Mary (Prower): wife, died soon after their arrival
Minter, Desire: part of Carver household, ret to her friends, in poor health, to England and died
*More, Ellen: aged 8, daughter of Katherine More, Shipton, Shropshire; died the first winter.
Elinor, from Shipton, Shropshire, bound for Plymouth; a little girl placed in the Winslow' family,
sister of Richard More who died soon after their arrival.
*More, Jasper: aged 7, son of Katherine More, Shipton, Shropshire, died Dec 6, 1620 on board;
from Shipton, Shropshire, bound for Plymouth; spelled Moore, died the first season
More, Richard: aged 6, son of Katherine More, Shipton, Shropshire; from Shipton, Shropshire,
bound for Plymouth; placed with the Brewster family; Richard married and had four or
more children.
*More, Mary: aged 4, daughter of Katherine More, Shipton, Shropshire; placed with the
Brewster family; died the first winter
Mullens, William: from Stroke near Guildford, Surrey, bound for Plymouth; died the first winter
*Mullens, Alice: wife, died the first winter
Mullens, Priscilla: daughter; married John Alden
*Mullins, Joseph: son, died the first winter
*Priest, Degory: from London, bound for Plymouth; spelled Digerie, died from sickness; his
wife, the sister of Mr. Allerton, and her children came afterwards
*Prower, Solomon: from Billericay, Essex, bound for Plymouth; servant to Christopher Martin;
died soon after their arrival.
20
*Rigsdale, John: died in the first sickness
*Rigsdale, Alice: wife, died in the first sickness
*Rogers, Thomas: from Great St Bartholomew, London, bound for Plymouth; died in the first
sickness; his other children came afterward and had families
Rogers Joseph: son, living in 1650, married and had 6 children
Samson, Henry: from St Andrews Undershaft, London, bound for Plymouth; cousin of Edward
and Ann Tilley, had seven children
Soule, George: from Eckington Worcestershire, bound for Plymouth; servant in Winslow's
family, married and had eight children; his will read, in a nutshell, if my son bothers my
daughter, she gets everything
Standish, Myles: lived to the year 1656, chief in military affairs; had four sons living in 1650 by
a second marriage
*Standish, Rose: wife, died in the first sickness
*Story, Elias: servant to John Winslow; died in the first sickness
*Thompson, Edward: servant to William White; died soon after landing
*Tilley, Edward: Tillie, died soon after their arrival
*Tilley, Ann (Cooper): wife, died soon after their arrival
*Tilley, John: brother to Edward; died soon after he came on shore
*Tilley, Joan Hurst Rogers: wife, died soon after she came on shore
Tilley, Elizabeth: daughter; married John Howland
*Tinker, Thomas: died in the first sickness
*Tinker, Mrs. Thomas: wife, died in the first sickness
*Tinker son: died in the first sickness
Trevore, William: hired shipman ret to England; one of the two seamen hired to stay a year,
possibly why the counts are off
*Turner, John: from Doncaster, Yorkshire, bound for Plymouth; died in the first sickness; a
daughter came afterward to Salem and married there
21
*Turner: son, name unknown, died in the first sickness
*Turner: son, name unknown, died in the first sickness
Warren, Richard: from Shoreditch, S Leonard, Middlesex, bound for Plymouth; his wife and five
daughters were left, and came over afterwards; they also had two sons, the daughters
married here
*White, William: from Beaminster, Dorsetshire, bound for Plymouth; died soon after landing
White, Susanna: wife of Edward Winslow
White, Resolved: son, married and had five children
White, Peregrine: son, born Dec on board (at Cape Cod after landing) married and had 2 children
before 1650
*Wilder, Roger: servant to John Carver; Man servant, died in the first sickness
*Williams, Thomas: died from sickness
Winslow, Edward: from Droitwich Worcestershire, bound for Plymouth; afterward chosen
governor, died in 1655, when on a commission to the West Indies; left two children by
second marriage
*Winslow Elizabeth (Barker): wife; died the first winter
Winslow, Gilbert: ret to England, died there (From Droitwich Worcestershire, bound for
Plymouth; after living here a number of years, returned to England
Dorothy: maidservant of John Carver?
Captain Christopher Jones: Master, partial owner of the ship
John Clarke: first mate or first officer (later received land assignment in Virginia, going there in
1623)
Robert Coppin: a mate
Giles Heale: Surgeon
Jones was buried March 5, 1621/2, at Rotherhithe, Surrey, England, his birthplace.
Both Clarke and Coppin had been in America before.
22
William Trevore was a hired hand, who left on the Fortune on December 13, 1621 and later
mastered the William.
Total of 102 passengers
* 54 died on board, immediately after, during the first sickness and/or winter, or within the first
year
45 remained and survived.
Winthrop Fleet (11 ships total, 1630)
Abbott, Daniel
Abell, Robert
Agar, William
Alcock, George, ______
Alcock, Thomas
Aleworth, Francis
Andrew, Thomas
Archer, Samuel
Aspinwall, William, Elizabeth, Edward
Audley, (Odlin) John
Baker, John, Charity
Balston, William, Elizabeth
Barsham, William
Bartlett, Thomas
Bateman, William
Baxter, Gregory
Beamsley, William, Anne
Beecher, Thomas, Christian
Belcher, Edward, Christian, Edward Jr.
Bendall, Edward, Anne
Benham, John
Biggs, John, Mary
Black, John
Boggust, John
Boswell, John
Bosworth, Zaccheus
Bourne, Garret
Bowman, Nathaniel, Anna
Bradstreet, Simon, Anne
Brand, Benjamin
Bratcher, Augustine
Brease, ____
Brenton, William
Brett, Isabel
Bright, Henry
Browne, Abraham, Lydia
Browne, James
Browne, Richard, Elizabeth, George, Richard
Buckland, William
Bugby, Richard, Judith
Bulgar, Richard,_______
Burnell (Bunnell), William
Burr, Jehu,_____, Jehu Jr.
23
Burroughs, Robert
Cable, John
Cakebread, Thomas, Sarah
Chadwick, Charles, Elizabeth
Chambers, Anne or Annie
Chase, William
Chauner, Margery
Cheesebrough, William, Ann
(Stevenson), Sarah,
Peter, Samuel, Nathaniel
Child, Ephraim, Elizabeth
Church, Richard
Clarke, John
Clarke, William, Elizabeth
Clough (Cluffe), Richard
Cobbett, _____
Coddington, William, Mary
Colbron, William, Margery
Colby, Anthony, Susanna (Haddon)
Cole, John
Cole, Rice, Arrold
Cole, Robert
Cole, Samuel, Anne
Converse, Edward, Sarah,
Phineas, John, Josiah,
James
Cooke, Margaret
Cowlishaw, William, Anne
Crabb, John
Crafts, Griffin, Alice, Hannah
Cranwell, John
Cribb, Benjamin
Crugott, James
Dady, William, Dorothy
Deekes (Dix), Edward, Jane
Devereux, John
Diffy, Richard
Dillingham, John, Sarah (Caly),
Sarah
Dixon, William
Doggett, John, ____, John Jr,
Thomas
Downing, James
Dudley, Thomas, Dorothy (Yorke), Samuel,
Anne, Patience, Sarah, Mercy, Thomas
Jr.
Dutton, ____
Edmunds, John, Mary
Eggleston, Bigod
Ellis, Arthur
Elston, John
Fayeweather, Thomas
Finch, Abraham, Abraham Jr., Daniel, John
Firmin, John
Firmin, Giles Jr., Martha (Doggett)
Fitzrandolph, Edward
Fox, Thomas
Foxwell, Richard, _____, John
Freeman, Samuel, Apphia (Quick), Henry
French, Thomas, Susan (Riddlesdale), Thomas
Jr., Alice, Dorcas, Susan, Anne,
John, Mary
Frothingham, William, Anne
Gage, John, Amy
Gager, William
____, _____ (servant to Dr. Gager name
unknown)
Garrett, Hugh
Garrett, Richard, ___, Hannah, ____
Gibson, Christopher, Mary
Gibson, Elizabeth
Glover, Ralph
Glover, John, Anne
Goldthwaite, Thomas, Elizabeth
Gosnall, Henry, Mary
Gosse (Goffe), John, Sarah
Goulworth, John
Gridley, Richard, Grace, Joseph, Abraham
Gyver, Bridget,
Haddon, Garrett, Margaret
Hale, Robert, Joan
Hall, John, Joan (Dove)
Hammond, Phillipa
Harding, Robert
Harris, Thomas, Elizabeth
Harwood, Henry, Elizabeth
Hawke, ____
Hawkins, John
Hawthorne, William
Hesselden, Franceis
Hoames, Margaret
Hoffe, ______
Hopwood, Edward
Horne, John
Hosier, Samuel
Howlett, Thomas
Hudson, William, Susan, Francis, William
Hulbirt, William
Hutchins, Richard
Hutchinson, George, Margaret
24
Hutchinson, Thomas
Ijons (Irons), Matthias, Anne
James, Edmond, Reana
James, Thomas, Elizabeth
James, William, Elizabeth
Jarvis, John
Johnson, Davy
Johnson, Francis, Joan
Johnson, Isaac, Arbella
Johnson, John, Margaret
Johnson, Richard, Alice
Jones, Bethia
Jones, Edward
Kidby, Lewis, ____, _____,
Edward
Kingsbury, Henry, Margaret,
Henry Jr.
Kingsbury, Thomas
Knapp, Nicholas, Elinor
Knapp, William, ____, John,
Anne, Judith, Mary,
James, John, WIlliam Jr.
Knower, George
Knower, Thomas
Lamb, Edward
Lamb, Thomas, Elizabeth, Thomas
Jr., John, Samuel
Lamb, Roger
Lawson, Henry
Learned, William, Judith
Leatherland, William
Legge, John
Lockwood, Edmond, Elizabeth,
_____
Lockwood, Robert
Lynton, Richard, ____, Anna,
Lydia
Lynn, Henry, Sarah
Masters, Johrt
Tyndal, Arthur
Matson, Thomas, Amy (or Ann)
Mayhew, Thomas, ____, Thomas Jr.
Miller, ____
Millett, Richard
Mills, John, Susan, Joy, Mary,
John Jr., Susanna,
Recompense
Morey, Roger
Morley, Ralph, Catherine
Morris, Richard, Lenora
Morris, Thomas, Sarah
Morton, Mary
Moulton, Thomas, Jane
Mousall, Ralph, Alice
Munt, Thomas, Dorothy
Nash, Gregory, _____
Needham, Ann
Nicolls, _____
Nowell, Increase, Parnell (Gray) n, Jane,
Sarah, Lyn (See Audley)
Page, John, Phebe (Paine), John, Daniel
Painter, Thomas, Katherine
Palmer, Abraham, Grace
Palsford, Edward
Palsgrave, Richard, Anne, John, Anna, Mary,
Parke, Robert, Martha (Chaplin), Thomas,
____, ____, ____
Parker, Robert
Patrick, Captain Daniel, ____
Pelham, William
Pemberton, James, Alice
Pemberton, John, Elizabeth
Penn, James, Katherine
Penn, William
Penniman, James, Lydia
Perry, Isaac
Peters (Pettit), Anne
Phillips, Rev. George, ____, Samuel,
Abigail, Elizabeth
Phillips, John, Joan
Phillips, John
Pickering, John, Esther, George,
John Jr., Joan
Pickworth, John
Pierce, John, Parnell, Experience, Mercy,
Samuel
Plaistow, Josiah
Pollard, Mrs. Anne
Pond, John
Pond, Robert, Mary
Porter, John, Margaret, ___, ___,___,___,
Pratt, Dr. Abraham, Jane
Pynchon, William, Agnes, John, Anne, Mary,
Margaret
Rainsford, Edward, ____
Ratcliffe, Philip
Rawlins, Thomas, Mary, Thomas Jr.,
Nathaniel, John, Joan, Mary
Reade, Thomas, Priscilla
Reading, Joseph
Reading, Miles
Reeder, ____
Revell, John
Reynolds, Robert, Mary, Nathaniel, Ruth,
Tabitha, Sarah
Richardson, Ezekiel, Susanna
Royse (Ryse), Robert, Elizabeth
Ruggles, John, Frances, ____
Ruggles, Jeffrey, Margaret
Sales, John, ___, Phebe
Saltonstall, Sir Richard, Richard Jr,
Samuel, Robert, Rosamond, Grace
Sampson, Robert
25
Sanford, John
Saxton, Rev. Giles
Scott, Robert
Seaman, John
Seely, Robert
Sergeant, _____
Sharp, Robert
Sharpe, Thomas, ___, ___, Thomas
Sarah
Shut, _____
Simpson, _____
Smead, ___, Judith, William
Smith, ____, ____
Squire, Thomas
Stearns, Isaac, Mary (Barker),
John, Abigail,
Elizabeth, Hannah, Mary
Stileman, Elias, Judith (Adams),
Elias Jr.
Stoughton, Israel, Elizabeth
Stoughton, Thomas, _____
Sumner, William, Mary (West),
William Jr.
Swaddon, Philip
Swanson, Anna
Talmadge, William, _____
Taylor, Gregory, Achsah
Taylor, John, ____, ____
Timewell, William
Tomlins, Edward
Turner, Nathaniel
Turner, Robe_, ___, ____
Underhill, John, Helen
Vassall, William, Anne, Judith,
Francis, John, Anne
Wade, (Thomas)
Walker, Robert, Sarah
Wall, ____, ____
____,_____ (Servant of Mr. Wall)
Ward, Thomas
Warren, John, Margaret
Waterbury, William, Alice
Waters, John, Frances, Mary,
___, ___
Weaver, ____
Webb, Richard, Elizabeth
Weed, Jonas
Weillust, Joist
Weldon, Robert, Elizabeth
Weston, Francis, Margaret, Lucy
Wilbore, Samuel, Anne
Wilkinson, Prudence, Sarah,
John, Elizabeth
Williams, Thomas
Williams, Thomas (alias Harris, may be same as preceding), Robert
Wilsby, ____
Wilson, John
Wilton, David
Wing, Elizabeth
Winthrop, John, Henry, Stephen, Samuel
___,____ (x8) -- Winthrop had eight servants, names unknown
Woods, William
Woolrich, John, Sarah
Wormewood, _____
Wright, Richard, Margaret, Eleanor, Robert
26
Laws Divine, Moral, and Martial (Jamestown, 1612)
15. No man of what condition soever shall barter, truck, or trade with the Indians, except he be
thereunto appointed by lawful authority, upon pain of death.
16. No man shall rifle or despoil, by force or violence, take away any thing from any Indian
coming to trade, or otherwise, upon pain of death.
17. No Cape Merchant, or Provant Master, or Munition Master, or Truck Master, or keeper of
any store, shall at any time embezzle, sell, or give away any thing under his Charge to any
Favorite, of his, more then unto any other, whom necessity shall require in that case to have
extraordinary allowance of Provisions, nor shall they give a false accompt unto the Lord
Governor, and Captain General, unto the Lieutenant General, unto the Marshall, or any deputed
Governor, at any time having the command of the Colony, with intent to defraud the said
Colony, upon pain of death.
18. No man shall embezzle or take away the goods of any man that dyeth, or is employed from
the town or Fort where he dwelleth in any other occasioned remote service, for the time, upon
pain of whipping three several times, and restitution of the said goods again, and in danger of
incurring the penalty of the tenth Article, if so it may come under the construction of theft. And
if any man die and make a will, his goods shall be accordingly disposed; if he die intestate, his
goods shall be put into the store, and being valued by two sufficient appraisers, his next of kin
(according to the common Laws of England) shall from the Company, Committees, or
adventurers, receive due satisfaction in monies, according as they were praised, by which means
the Colony shall be the better furnished; and the goods more carefully preserved, for the right
heir, and the right heir receive content for the same in England.
19. There shall no Captain, Master, Mariner, sailor, or any else of what quality or condition
soever, belonging to any Ship or Ships, at this time remaining, or which shall hereafter arrive
within this our River, bargain, buy, truck, or trade with any one member in this Colony, man,
woman, or child, for any tool or instrument of iron, steel or what else, whether appertaining to
Smith, Carpenter, Joiner, Shipwright, or any manual occupation, or handicraft man whatsoever,
resident within our Colony, nor shall they buy or bargain, for any apparel, linen, or woolen,
household stuff, bed, bedding, sheet towels, napkins, brass, pewter, or such like, either for ready
money or provisions, nor shall they exchange their provisions, of what quality soever, whether
Butter, Cheese, Biscuit, meal, Oatmeal, Aquavite, Oil, Bacon, any kind of Spice, or such like, for
any such aforesaid instruments, or tools, Apparels, or household stuff.
27
Excerpts from A True Relation by George Percy, 1609-1612
Also within a short Time after Captain : WESTE did come down to us from the Falls
having lost eleven men and A Boat at ARSETOCKE besides those men he lost at the Falls so our
Number at James Town increasing and our store decreasing for in charity we could not deny
them to participate with us Whereupon I appointed Captain : TUCKER to Calculate and Cast up
our store. The which at a poor allowance of half a Can of meal for A man A day Amounted unto
three months Provision yet Captain : TUCKER by his industry and care caused the same to hold
out four months . But having no expectation of Relief to come in so short A Time I sent Captain
RATLIEFE to POWHATAN to Procure victuals and corn by the way of commerce and trade the
which the subtle old fox at first made good semblance of Although his intent was otherwise only
waiting A fitting time for their destruction As after plainly appeared . The which was Probably
occasioned by Captain : RATLIEFES credulity for Having POWHATAN S son and daughter
Aboard his pinnace freely suffered them to depart again on shore whom if he had detained might
have been A Sufficient pledge for his safety And after not keeping A Proper and fitting Court of
Guard but suffering his men by two and three and small Numbers in A Company to straggle into
the Savages houses when the Sly old king espied A fitting Time Cut them all of only surprised
Captain : RATLIEFE Alive who he caused to be bound unto a tree naked with a fire before And
by women his flesh was scrapped from his bones with mussell shells and before his face thrown
into the fire . And so for want of circumspection miserably Perished .
In the Mean Time Captain : William PHETIPLACE Remained in the pinnace with Some
few men and was divers times assaulted by the Indians but after divers conflicts with the loss of
some of his men hardly escaped and at length Arrived at James Town only with sixteen men the
Remainder of fifty Captain RATLIEFE has Charge of at his going forth And so he related unto
us the Tragedy of Captain : RATLIEFE not bringing any Relief with them either for themselves
or us.
Upon which defeat I sent Captain : James DAVIS to ALGERNOWE fort to Command
there in Captain : RATLIEFE S place And Captain WESTE I sent To POTOAMACK with about
thirty six men to trade for maize and grain where he in short time Loaded his pinnace sufficiently
yet used some harsh and cruel dealing by cutting of two of the Savages heads and other
extremities And coming by ALGERNOWNS fort Captain DAVIS did call unto them acquainting
them with our Great wants exhorting them to make all the Speed they could to Relieve us upon
which report Captain : WESTE by the Persuasion or rather by the enforcement of his company
hoisted up Sails and shaped their course directly for England and left us in that extreme misery
and want .
Now all of us at James Town beginning to feel that sharp prick of hunger which no man
truely describe but he which has Tasted the bitterness thereof A world of miseries ensued as the
Sequel will express unto you in so much that some to satisfy their hunger have robbed the store
for the which I caused them to be executed. Then having fed upon horses and other beasts as
long as they Lasted we were glad to make shift with vermine as dogs Cats Rats and mice All was
fish that came to Net to satisfy cruel hunger as to eat Boots shoes or any other leather some could
Come by And those being Spent and devoured some were enforced to search the woods and to
28
feed upon Serpents and snakes and to dig the earth for wild and unknown Roots where many of
our men were Cut off of and slain by the Savages . And now famine beginning to Look ghastely
and pale in every face that nothing was spared to maintain Life and to do those things which
seem incredible As to dig up dead corpses out of graves and to eat them and some have Licked
up the Blood which has fallen from their weak fellows And amongst the rest this was most
Lamentable That one of our Colony murdered his wife Ripped the child out of her womb and
threw it into the River and after chopped the Mother in pieces and salted her for his food The
same not being discovered before he had eaten Part thereof for the which cruel and inhumane
fact I ajudged him to be executed the acknowledgement of the deed being enforced from him by
torture having hung by the Thumbs with weights at his feet a quarter of an hour before he would
confess the same.
Upon these Calameties having one boat and A Canoe Left us. Our Boat did accidentally
break Loose and did drive four miles down the River before she was espied . Whereupon Captain
: MARTIN Appointing some to follow her the which being neglected and acquainting me there
with I stepped out of my house with my Sword drawn and what with my threats & their fears
happy was he could ship himself into the Canoe first And so our Boat that night was again
Recovered yet wanting more Boats for fishing and other needful occasions Captain : DANIELL
TUCKER by his great industry and pains builded A Large Boat with his own hands The which
was some help and A little Relief unto us And did keep us from killing one of Another . To eat
many our men this starving Time did Run Away unto the Savages whom we never heard of after.
29
John Smith on “The Starving Time,” 1609
The day before Captaine Smith returned for England with the ships, Captaine Davis arrived in a
small Pinace, with some sixteene proper men more: To these were added a company from James
towne, under the command of Captaine John Sickelmore alias Ratliffe, to inhabit Point Comfort.
Captaine Martin and Captaine West, having lost their boats and neere halfe their men among the
Salvages, were returned to James towne; for the Salvages no sooner understood Smith was gone,
but they all revolted, and did spoile and murther all they incountered. Now wee were all
constrained to live onely on that Smith had onely for his owne Companie, for the rest had
consumed their proportions, and now they had twentie Presidents with all their appurtenances:
Master Piercie our new President, was so sicke hee could neither goe nor stand. But ere all was
consumed, Captaine West and Captaine Sickelmore, each with a small ship and thirtie or fortie
men well appointed, sought abroad to trade. Sickelmore upon the confidence of Powhatan, with
about thirtie others as carelesse as himselfe, were all slaine, onely Jeffrey Shortridge escaped,
and Pokahontas the Kings daughter saved a boy called Henry Spilman, that lived many yeeres
after, by her meanes, amongst the Patawomekes. Powhatan still as he found meanes, cut off their
Boats, denied them trade, so that Captaine West set saile for England. Now we all found the
losse of Captaine Smith, yea his greatest maligners could now curse his losse: as for corne,
provision and contribution from the Salvages, we had nothing but mortall wounds, with clubs
and arrowes; as for our Hogs, Hens, Goats, Sheepe, Horse, or what lived, our commanders,
officers & Salvages daily consumed them, some small proportions sometimes we tasted, till all
was devoured; then swords, armes, pieces, or any thing, wee traded with the Salvages, whose
cruell fingers were so oft imbrewed in our blouds, that what by their crueltie, our Governours
indiscretion, and the losse of our ships, of five hundred within six moneths after Captaine Smiths
departure, there remained not past sixtie men, women and children, most miserable and poore
creatures; and those were preserved for the most part, by roots, herbes, acornes, walnuts, berries,
now and then a little fish: they that had startch in these extremities, made no small use of it; yea,
even the very skinnes of our horses. Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we slew, and
buried, the poorer sort tooke him up againe and eat him, and so did divers one another boyled
and stewed with roots and herbs: And one amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and
had eaten part of her before it was knowne, for which hee was executed, as hee well deserved;
now whether shee was better roasted, boyled or carbonado’d, I know not, but of such a dish as
powdered wife I never heard of. This was that time, which still to this day we called the starving
time; it were too vile to say, and scarce to be beleeved, what we endured: but the occasion was
our owne, for want of providence, industrie and government, and not the barrennesse and defect
of the Countrie, as is generally supposed; for till then in three yeeres, for the numbers were
landed us, we had never from England provision sufficient for six moneths, though it seemed by
the bils of loading sufficient was sent us, such a glutton is the Sea, and such good fellowes the
Mariners; we as little tasted of the great proportion sent us, as they of our want and miseries, yet
notwithstanding they ever over-swayed and ruled the businesse, though we endured all that is
said, and chiefly lived on what this good Countrie naturally afforded; yet had wee beene even in
Paradice it selfe with these Governours, it would not have beene much better with us; yet there
was amongst us, who had they had the government as Captaine Smith appointed, but that they
could not maintaine it, would surely have kept us from those extremities of miseries. This in ten
daies more, would have supplanted us all with death.
30
But God that would not this Countrie should be unplanted, sent and Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir
George Sommers with one hundred and fiftie people most happily preserved by the Bermudas to
preserve us: strange it is to say how miraculously they were preserved in a leaking ship, as at
large you may reade in the insuing Historie of those Ilands.
Source: John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England & The Summer Isles
(Glasgow, Scotland: James MacLehose and Sons, 1907), Vol. 1: 203–05
31