Middle Plantation (Virginia)

Middle Plantation's growth was encouraged by the completion in 1634 of a continuous fortification, or palisade, across the peninsula a distance of about 6 miles (9.7 km) between Archer's Hope Creek (later renamed College Creek), which drained southerly to the James River and Queen's Creek, which drained northerly to the York River. Also in 1634, James City Shire was established by the House of Burgesses to include Middle Plantation and the surrounding area. James City Shire soon thereafter became James City County, the oldest county in the United States.

As the small town grew, a new Bruton Parish Church was constructed there. In 1693, Middle Plantation was selected as the site of the new College of William & Mary. After serving as a temporary meeting place several times during contingencies of the 17th century when the Capital of the Colony had been located at Jamestown, Middle Plantation became the new Capital of the Virginia Colony in 1699. It was soon renamed Williamsburg in honor of King William III of Great Britain, and is today the site of the Historic District known as Colonial Williamsburg.

Royal Governor Sir Francis Nicholson described Middle Plantation as a place where "clear and crystal springs burst from the champagne soil."

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Fortification

Fortification

A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere.

Palisade

Palisade

A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade.

College Creek

College Creek

College Creek is located in James City County in the Virginia Peninsula area of the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia in the United States. From a point of origin near the independent city of Williamsburg, it is a tributary of the James River.

James City Shire

James City Shire

James City Shire was formed in the British colony of Virginia in 1634.

House of Burgesses

House of Burgesses

The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established in 1619, became a bicameral institution.

James City County, Virginia

James City County, Virginia

James City County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,254. Although politically separate from the county, the county seat is the adjacent independent city of Williamsburg.

Bruton Parish Church

Bruton Parish Church

Bruton Parish Church is located in the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1674 by the consolidation of two previous parishes in the Virginia Colony, and remains an active Episcopal parish. The building, constructed 1711–15, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as a well-preserved early example of colonial religious architecture.

College of William & Mary

College of William & Mary

The College of William & Mary is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity". In his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities, Richard Moll included William & Mary as one of the original eight "Public Ivies".

Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown, Virginia

The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about 2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 O.S., and was considered permanent after a brief abandonment in 1610. It followed several failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke, established in 1585 on Roanoke Island, later part of North Carolina. Jamestown served as the colonial capital from 1616 until 1699. Despite the dispatch of more settlers and supplies, including the 1608 arrival of eight Polish and German colonists and the first two European women, more than 80 percent of the colonists died in 1609–10, mostly from starvation and disease. In mid-1610, the survivors abandoned Jamestown, though they returned after meeting a resupply convoy in the James River.

Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe. With an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi), it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is dominated by a maritime climate with narrow temperature differences between seasons. The 60% smaller island of Ireland is to the west—these islands, along with over 1,000 smaller surrounding islands and named substantial rocks, form the British Isles archipelago.

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Its 301-acre (122 ha) historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions. The historic area includes three main thoroughfares and their connecting side streets that attempt to suggest the atmosphere and the circumstances of 18th-century Americans. Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction.

Francis Nicholson

Francis Nicholson

Lieutenant-General Francis Nicholson was a British Army general and colonial official who served as the governor of South Carolina from 1721 to 1725. He previously was the Governor of Nova Scotia from 1712 to 1715, the Governor of Virginia from 1698 to 1705, the Governor of Maryland from 1694 to 1698, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 1690 to 1692, and the Lieutenant Governor of the Dominion of New England from 1688 to 1689.

Middle Plantation was located on a ridge at the western edge of a geographic plateau of the Tidewater Region of southeastern Virginia, from which the land of the coastal plain slopes eastward down to sea level at the lower end of the Virginia Peninsula. At this point, the land portion of the Peninsula was relatively narrow between two creeks which drained into the James River and the York River. As much of the lower peninsula to the east was becoming settled, this was a natural point for the English settlers who established Jamestown and the Virginia Colony beginning in 1607 to build a line of defense during early conflicts with the Native Americans.

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Virginia

Virginia

Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Its geography and climate are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay. The state's capital is Richmond. Its most-populous city is Virginia Beach, and Fairfax County is the state's most-populous political subdivision. Virginia's population in 2022 was over 8.68 million, with 35% living within in the Greater Washington metropolitan area.

Coastal plain

Coastal plain

A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coastal Plain of North America extends northwards from the Gulf of Mexico along the Lower Mississippi River to the Ohio River, which is a distance of about 981 miles (1,579 km). The Atlantic Coastal Plain runs from the New York Bight to Florida.

Virginia Peninsula

Virginia Peninsula

The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay. It is sometimes known as the Lower Peninsula to distinguish it from two other peninsulas to the north, the Middle Peninsula and the Northern Neck.

James River

James River

The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows 348 miles (560 km) to the Chesapeake Bay. The river length extends to 444 miles (715 km) if the Jackson River is included, the longer of its two headwaters. It is the longest river in Virginia. Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia's first colonial capitals, and Richmond, Virginia's current capital, lie on the James River.

York River (Virginia)

York River (Virginia)

The York River is a navigable estuary, approximately 34 miles (55 km) long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. It ranges in width from 1 mile (1.6 km) at its head to 2.5 miles (4.0 km) near its mouth on the west side of Chesapeake Bay. Its watershed drains an area of the coastal plain of Virginia north and east of Richmond.

Jamestown, Virginia

Jamestown, Virginia

The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about 2.5 mi (4 km) southwest of the center of modern Williamsburg. It was established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 4, 1607 O.S., and was considered permanent after a brief abandonment in 1610. It followed several failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke, established in 1585 on Roanoke Island, later part of North Carolina. Jamestown served as the colonial capital from 1616 until 1699. Despite the dispatch of more settlers and supplies, including the 1608 arrival of eight Polish and German colonists and the first two European women, more than 80 percent of the colonists died in 1609–10, mostly from starvation and disease. In mid-1610, the survivors abandoned Jamestown, though they returned after meeting a resupply convoy in the James River.

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States. There are 574 federally recognized tribes living within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. As defined by the United States Census, "Native Americans" are Indigenous tribes that are originally from the contiguous United States, along with Alaska Natives. Indigenous peoples of the United States who are not listed as American Indian or Alaska Native include Native Hawaiians, Samoan Americans, and Chamorros. The US Census groups these peoples as "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders".

Concept of a defensive palisade across the peninsula

The idea of a palisade or fortification across the peninsula was discussed as early as 1611. Sir Thomas Dale, then governor, in a letter to the Earl of Salisbury, recommended the establishment of a fortified settlement at Chiskiack, some twenty miles (32 km) up the York River from Point Comfort. But, during the era of relative peace, which began with the marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas in 1614, nothing was immediately done to implement the suggestion.

The idea of building a palisade was renewed around 1623, following the Indian Massacre of 1622. At that time, 73 of the settlers were slain in Martin's Hundred at Wolstenholme Towne, situated on the James about 6 miles (9.7 km) below Jamestown. The survivors were so alarmed and weakened that they temporarily abandoned the settlement. Governor Francis Wyatt and his council wrote to the Earl of Southampton that they had a plan of "winning the forest" by running a pale between the James and York from Martin's Hundred to Chiskiack.

In 1626, Samuel Mathews, of Denbigh and William Claiborne, of Kecoughtan, offered to build the palisades and construct houses, at short intervals, between Martin's Hundred and Chiskiack. They attached conditions and costs, and historians do not believe their offer was accepted.

Development along north side of the peninsula

There was little development along the north side of the peninsula adjacent to the York River by the English settlers before 1630, and no action on a cross-peninsula palisade had taken place. Under Governor John Harvey, at a meeting held at Jamestown, October 8, 1630, Governor Harvey and the Governor's Council,

"for the securing and taking in a tract of land called the forest, bordering upon the cheife residence of ye Pamunkey King, the most dangerous head of ye Indyan enemy," did "after much consultation thereof had, decree and sett down several proportions of land for such commanders, and fifty acres per poll for all other persons who ye first yeare and five and twenty acres who the second yeare, should adventure or be adventured to seate and inhabit on the southern side of Pamunkey River, now called York, and formerly known by the Indyan name of Chiskiack, as a reward and encouragement for this their undertaking."

Under this order, houses were built on both sides of King's Creek, and extended rapidly up and down the south side of the York River. By September, 1632, population on the south side of the York River had become considerable enough to claim two representatives in the General Assembly.

Chiskiack and York

The region on the York River was divided into two plantations, one retaining the old name, Chiskiack (an Indian name), and the other to be named York. The latter was settled by Sir John Harvey at the mouth of Wormeley's Creek, about three miles (5 km) below the present Yorktown.

Years later, Captain Nicholas Martiau, a French engineer employed by the colony, patented the land embracing the site of Yorktown. When, in 1680, the General Assembly authorized the establishment of 10 ports, it directed that one be here, between the two settlements of Chiskiack and York. Thus, the town of Yorktown at once assumed importance. Soon, both Chiskiack and York became two of the lost towns of Virginia.

1632: Middle Plantation patented

The plan of running a palisade across the peninsula was no longer deferred. Dr. John Potts blazed the way by obtaining on July 12, 1632 a patent for 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) at the head of Archer's Hope Creek, midway between Chiskiack and the James River. On September 4, 1632, the General Assembly directed that land should be offered to all persons settling between Queen's Creek and Archer's Hope Creek, as it had been offered two years before to inhabitants at Chiskiack.

In February, 1633, the Assembly enacted that a fortieth part of the men in "the compasse of the forest" east of Archer's Hope and Queen's Creek to Chesapeake Bay (essentially all of the lower peninsula) should be present "before the first day of March next" at Dr. John Potts' plantation, "newlie built," to erect houses and secure the land in that quarter. Work on the palisade had commenced by March 1, 1633. [2] With this labor, palisades, six miles (10 km) in length, were run from creek to creek, and, on the ridge between, a settlement to be called Middle Plantation was made. It represented the first major inland settlement for the colony.^[1]

A healthful site chosen for Middle Plantation

The doctor would have certainly recognized the sanitary advantages of the country around Middle Plantation. As the ridge between the creeks was remarkably well drained, there were few mosquitoes. The deep ravines penetrating from the north and south made the place of much strategic value. Also, the only practical road down the Peninsula was over this ridge, and this road was easily defended. At Middle Plantation, some years later, this road was later to be called Duke of Gloucester Street.

1634: Palisade across the Peninsula completed

By 1634, the palisade (or stockade) was completed across the Virginia Peninsula, which was about 6 miles (9.7 km) wide at that point between Queen's Creek which fed into the York River and Archer's Hope Creek, (since renamed College Creek) which fed into the James River. The new palisade provided some security from attacks by the Native Americans for colonists' farming and fishing lower on the Peninsula.

The palisade is partially described in the following extract from a letter written in 1634, from Jamestown, by Captain Thomas Yonge:

a strong palisade ... upon a streight between both rivers and ... a sufficient force of men to defence of the same, whereby all the lower part of Virginia have a range for their cattle, near fortie miles in length and in most places twelve miles (19 km) broade. The pallisades is very neare six miles (10 km) long, bounded in by two large Creekes. ... in this manner to take also in all the grounde between those two Rivers, and so utterly excluded the Indians from thence; which work is conceived to be of extraordinary benefit to the country ...

1635-1693: life at Middle Plantation

As Middle Plantation was developed midway between the heads of Queens Creek and Archer's Hope (later renamed College Creek), settlers moved into the region in considerable numbers, establishing homesteads. Among these was Rich Neck Plantation. Not much is known of the early years of the settlement; the palisades made it a place of refuge from Indian attack. [3]

On April 27, 1644, the second major Indian massacre occurred in the Colony. At that time, the Chief of the Powhatan Confederacy, Opechancanough, was captured. Although this event was to represent the high-water mark of hostilities with the Natives, in 1646, Captain Robert Higginson was directed to run a new pale at Middle Plantation, as the old was out of repair.

By the 1650s, Middle Plantation began to look both populated and wealthy. Colonel John Page, a merchant who had emigrated from Middlesex, England with his wife Alice Lucken Page in 1650, was largely responsible for building Middle Plantation into a substantial town. In an era of wooden buildings, brick was a sign of both wealth and permanence. Page built a large, brick house in Middle Plantation and began encouraging the growth of the area. The Ludwell brothers (Thomas and Phillip) also built a substantial brick home, even larger than that of Page.^[2] The houses which Page and the Ludwells built were among the finest in the colony. The Pages' eldest son, Francis built another brick house nearby. By the third quarter of the seventeenth century, Middle Plantation began to look like a place of importance.

Bacon's Rebellion

During Bacon's Rebellion (1675), Middle Plantation was second only to Jamestown as the center of the political upheaval. On August 3, at the house of Major Otho Thorpe at Middle Plantation, Nathaniel Bacon held a convention of the leading men, including four councillors. They adopted resolutions stressing independence from the people in power. The people pledged themselves to resist the Royal Governor, Sir William Berkeley to the utmost, and to oppose any force sent out from England. Historians note that it was a struggle for power between Bacon and his followers and the more established settlers represented by Berkeley. During the resulting conflict, Governor Berkeley retreated to the Eastern Shore. After Bacon died of natural causes later that year, Berkeley soon regained power and returned to the Peninsula.

After Bacon's death and the suppression of his followers, Middle Plantation was the site of the execution of William Drummond. Berkeley suggested he may have been "the original cause of the whole Rebellion." The same day on which Drummond was executed, the rebel Jean Baptista, a Frenchman, was also hanged there. Berkley also hanged many other colonists who had been involved in the uprising. Upon learning of the many executions, King Charles II was so displeased by the scale of retaliation that he recalled the Royal Governor to England.

During the Rebellion, most of Jamestown was burned to the ground. The House of Burgesses moved temporarily to Middle Plantation while the reconstruction of the old parliament house was underway.

Peace with the Natives

Succeeding Berkeley on May 5, 1677, Acting Governor Sir Herbert Jeffryes invited the weroances of the neighboring Indian tribes to his camp to seek a lasting peace.

On May 29, 1677, King Charles II's birthday, attendees included the queen of the Pamunkey, her son, Captain John West; the queen of the Weyanoke, the king of the Nottoways,King Shurenough of the Manakins (Monacans), and the king of the Nansemonds. By the articles which they all signed, the Indian leaders agreed to live in due submission to the English people. As a guarantee of good treatment, Jeffryes presented each of them with a coronet or frontlet adorned with false jewels. (One of the frontlets, presented to the queen of Pamunkey, is now held by the Virginia Historical Society).

As Bacon's forces had destroyed the statehouse and all other buildings at Jamestown, the first General Assembly summoned after the rebellion was held in February, 1677, at Berkeley's residence, Green Spring Plantation. In October, the assembly met at Major Otho Thorpe's house in Middle Plantation. That year, the Assembly discussed idea of moving the capital from Jamestown, but instead rebuilt the state house at Jamestown.

Churches, Bruton Parish

In 1633, shortly after Middle Plantation was established, a parish of the Church of England with the same name, Middle Plantation Parish was established. The colonists soon built a wooden church. In 1644, Harrop Parish in James City County became active, and it united with Middle Plantation Parish in 1658 to form Middletown Parish. Marston Parish, founded in 1654 in adjacent York County merged with Middletown Parish in 1674 to form the new Bruton Parish.

Bruton Parish Church (circa 1902)

The name "Bruton Parish" honored the prominent Ludwell family and Governor Sir William Berkeley, whose ancestral homes were at Bruton in Somerset, England. Reverend Roland Jones was the first minister of Bruton Parish. In 1678, Colonel John Page (Middle Plantation), a wealthy colonist, donated a plot of land about 144 feet (44 m) by 180 feet (55 m) and funds for building a brick church and for the surrounding churchyard at Middle Plantation.^[3]

Other subscribers pledged additional funds. About 60 feet (18 m) by 24 feet (7.3 m), and the brick church was completed in 1683 and dedicated the next year at the Epiphany. The first brick Bruton Parish Church was of Gothic design with supporting buttresses. Soon the vestry authorized a steeple and a ring of bells. Royal approval of the structure came in 1694 when the Governor, Sir Edmund Andros, gave the parish a large silver server (paten). The church was replaced by a larger building finished in 1715 which is still extant.^[4]

1693: The College of William & Mary

After years of campaigning, a long-sought dream of the colonists came to fruition in 1693 following a mission to London by the Reverend Doctor James Blair, the highest ranking representative of the Church of England in the colony. Blair returned with the charter for a new college, and selected land adjacent to Middle Plantation as the site. There they established The College of William & Mary, named for the reigning King and Queen of England. The College opened in temporary buildings in 1694. It was given a seat in the House of Burgesses and was supported by taxation of a penny per pound on tobacco exported from Maryland and Virginia.

Sir Christoper Wren Building, formerly known as the College Building, was built between 1695 and 1699 and remains the oldest academic building in continuous use in the United States.

1699: named the new capital of the Virginia Colony

On October 20, 1698, the statehouse (capitol building) in Jamestown burned for the fourth time. Once again removing itself to a familiar alternate location, the legislature met at Middle Plantation, this time in the new College Building.

While meeting there, a group of five students from the College of William and Mary submitted a well-presented and logical proposal to the legislators outlining a plan and good reasons to move the capital permanently to Middle Plantation.

Despite the periodic need to relocate to Middle Plantation, throughout the seventeenth century, Virginians had been reluctant to move the capital from its "ancient and accustomed place." After all, Jamestown had always been Virginia's capital. It had a state house (except when it periodically burned) and a church, and it offered easy access to ships that came up the James River bringing goods from England and taking on tobacco bound for market. [4]

However, the students argued that the change would escape the dreaded malaria and mosquitoes that had always plagued the Jamestown site. The students pointed out that, while not located immediately upon a river, Middle Plantation offered nearby access to two deepwater (6-7' depth) creeks leading to a choice of two rivers. Other advocates of the move included the Reverend Dr. Blair and Sir Francis Nicholson. Nicholson succeeded Sir Edmund Andros as governor of Virginia. The earlier work of several prominent individuals like John Page, Francis Page, Thomas Ludwell, Philip Ludwell, and Otho Thorpe in building their fine brick homes and creating a substantial town at Middle Plantation also played a major role. And, there was of course, the new College of William and Mary with its fine brick building.

The proposal for the move was received favorably by the House of Burgesses. In 1699, the capital of the Virginia Colony was officially relocated to Middle Plantation.

Renamed as Williamsburg

About the same time the Capital was moved, Middle Plantation was renamed Williamsburg by the Governor, Colonel Francis Nicholson, in honor of King William III of Great Britain. The new site was described by Governor Nicholson as a place where "clear and crystal springs burst from the champagne soil."

Williamsburg remained the capital of Virginia until 1780.

See article Williamsburg, Virginia for history after 1699

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History of Williamsburg, Virginia

History of Williamsburg, Virginia

The history of Williamsburg, Virginia dates to the 17th Century. First named Middle Plantation, it changed its name to Williamsburg in 1699.

Old Point Comfort

Old Point Comfort

Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Previously known as Point Comfort, it lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States. It was renamed Old Point Comfort to differentiate it from New Point Comfort 21 miles (34 km) up the Chesapeake Bay. A group of enslaved Africans was brought to colonial Virginia at this point in 1619. Today the location is home to Continental Park and Fort Monroe National Monument.

John Rolfe

John Rolfe

John Rolfe was an English explorer, farmer and merchant. He is best known for being the husband of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony of Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export.

Pocahontas

Pocahontas

Pocahontas was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribes in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia.

Martin's Hundred

Martin's Hundred

Martin's Hundred was an early 17th-century plantation located along about ten miles (16 km) of the north shore of the James River in the Virginia Colony east of Jamestown in the southeastern portion of present-day James City County, Virginia. The Martin's Hundred site is described in detail in the eponymous book of Ivor Noel Hume first published in 1979.

Francis Wyatt

Francis Wyatt

Sir Francis Wyatt (1588–1644) was an English nobleman, knight, politician, and government official. He was the first English royal governor of Virginia. He sailed for America on 1 August 1621 on board the George. He became governor shortly after his arrival in October, taking with him the first written constitution for an English colony. Also sailing with him on this voyage was his second cousin Henry Fleete Sr., who helped found colonies in both Virginia and Maryland. In 1622 he rallied the defence of Jamestown which was attacked by Native Americans, during which the lives of some 400 settlers were lost and he then oversaw the contraction of the colony from scattered outposts into a defensive core.

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton

Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, was the only son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and Mary Browne, daughter of Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu. Shakespeare's two narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, were dedicated to Southampton, who is frequently identified as the Fair Youth of Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Fence

Fence

A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.

Denbigh, Virginia

Denbigh, Virginia

Denbigh is a small unincorporated community in Warwick County, Virginia, USA, today Newport News City and was long the county seat. After a municipal consolidation in 1958, it became a neighborhood of the independent city of Newport News.

Kecoughtan, Virginia

Kecoughtan, Virginia

In the seventeenth century, Kecoughtan was the name of the settlement now known as Hampton, Virginia, In the early twentieth century, it was also the name of a town nearby in Elizabeth City County. It was annexed into the City of Newport News in 1927.

John Harvey (Virginia governor)

John Harvey (Virginia governor)

Sir John Harvey was a Crown Governor of Virginia. He was appointed to the position on 26 March 1628 by Charles I of England. In 1635 he was suspended and impeached by the Council of Virginia, and he returned to England. He claimed a conspiracy to change the charter of the colony by John Wolstenholme was the reason for the failures of his administration.

Pamunkey

Pamunkey

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe is one of 11 Virginia Indian tribal governments recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the state's first federally recognized tribe, receiving its status in January 2016. Six other Virginia tribal governments, the Chickahominy, the Eastern Chickahominy, the Upper Mattaponi, the Rappahannock, the Monacan, and the Nansemond, were similarly recognized through the passage of the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 on January 12, 2018. The historical people were part of the Powhatan paramountcy, made up of Algonquian-speaking nations. The Powhatan paramount chiefdom was made up of over 30 nations, estimated to total about 10,000–15,000 people at the time the English arrived in 1607. The Pamunkey nation made up about one-tenth to one-fifteenth of the total, as they numbered about 1,000 persons in 1607.