Who is jamestown named after

As well as delivering valuable supplies, the ships also brought more colonists and ultimately more mouths that required feeding. In , all appeared more positive when the Third Supply Relief Fleet of 9 ships set off from England loaded with fresh supplies and colonists with which to reinforce Jamestown.

Optimism was short lived however, when the fleet encountered a massive hurricane on the way, and after being tossed in a storm for four days, the flagship Sea Venture was eventually driven onto a reef off the coast of Bermuda. All on board were landed safely on the then uninhabited island of Bermuda, effectively castaways. The remaining ships of the fleet limped into Jamestown in August , with many of the passengers suffering injuries and sickness from their journey, thus adding a further hungry mouths to feed.

Just a few weeks later the emerging colony was struck a further devastating blow when John Smith suffered serious injury in a gunpowder explosion. The decision was made to transport him back to England to better treat his wounds.

Without his inspirational leadership, the colony quickly fell into chaos. Trapped within Jamestown by hostile Indians, the settlers first ate their way through their livestock; their pets were next on the menu, shortly followed by the resident rats and mice and then apparently the residents themselves! Meanwhile in the paradise that proved to be Bermuda, the castaways from the Sea Venture led by the likes of Admiral Sir George Somers , Sir Thomas Gates and John Rolfe, had not only established a thriving community, they had managed to keep themselves busy as well.

During their ten months on the island they had found food to be plentiful and they were able to build a church and houses. From the wreckage of the Sea Venture they built two further ships, the Deliverance and the Patience, aboard which they set sail set for Jamestown in May What greeted them when they arrived at the Virginia Colony however, was not a pretty sight.

In a rebellion in the colony led by Nathaniel Bacon sacked and burned much of the capital town. Jamestown remained the capital of Virginia until its major statehouse, located on the western end of the island, burned in The capital moved to Williamsburg in , and Jamestown began to slowly disappear above the ground.

By the s the land was heavily cultivated, primarily by the Travis and Ambler families. A military post was located on the island during the American Revolution, and American and British prisoners were exchanged there. French soldiers also sought refuge at Jamestown after the nearby Battle of Greensprings in In the island was occupied by Confederate soldiers who built an earthen fort near the 17th-century brick church tower as part of the defense system to block any Union advance up the James River.

In Jamestown was owned by Mr. Edward Barney. With federal assistance, a sea wall was built in to protect the area from further erosion. The remaining acreage on the island was acquired by the National Park Service in and made part of the Colonial National Historical Park.

In that first year, the bodies were buried in unmarked graves to prevent the natives from finding out that so many of the settlers had died, according to Bridges. Recent excavations by a team led by William Kelso, director of archaeology for Jamestown Rediscovery at Historic Jamestowne, have revealed 29 burial shafts close to the west palisade wall inside the fort. The team thinks these graves likely hold many of the colonists who died in Two of the excavated grave shafts contain two bodies.

According to the Historic Jamestowne website, the colonists likely resorted to double burials because so many men were dying in a short amount of time. Twenty individuals died in August alone, and multiple burials saved energy and time. In the other excavated shaft lay a boy about 14 years old, according to Historic Jamestowne. A small arrowhead was found next to the boy's right leg, which suggests he had been shot shortly before he was buried.

This may be the young boy who was recorded by Percy as being slain during combat with Powhatan Indians during the first month of the settlement. William Kelso, who directs excavations at Jamestown, told Live Science that the archaeology team hopes to excavate the rest of the graves and identify the bodies. The well-known story of how Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, saved Captain John Smith's life very likely did not happen, at least not the way most people have heard it and most certainly not the way the Disney animated movie told it , said Bridges.

Smith, who was elected president of the colony's council after most of the councilors died or became incapacitated, wrote that the colony depended on trade with friendly Powhatan in order to survive. Indeed, according to park ranger Bridges, when they weren't fighting each other, Powhatan's people often visited the settlers.

The chief's daughter, about 10 years old at the time, was a frequent visitor to Jamestown, delivering messages from her father and bringing food and furs to trade for hatchets and trinkets, Bridges said.

She also liked to play, and would spend time turning cartwheels with the boys of the colony. Her name was actually Matoaka, and Pocahontas was a nickname meaning "Little Wanton," according to Historic Jamestowne. Smith later wrote that at one point during an expedition in December , he was captured and brought to Powhatan. He was first welcomed and offered a feast. Then he was grabbed and forced to stretch out on two large, flat stones.

Indians stood over him with clubs as though ready to beat him to death if ordered. Suddenly, Pocahontas rushed in and took Smith's "head in her arms and laid her owne upon his to save him from death," wrote Smith. The girl then pulled him to his feet. Powhatan said that they were now friends, and he adopted Smith as his son, or a subordinate chief. Smith's tale has become legend, and he romanticized it in later writings, according to Historic Jamestowne. Smith told the story only after Pocahontas converted to Christianity , and he didn't mention it in an earlier account of his adventures in Virginia.

And if Smith's story is true, this mock "execution and salvation" ceremony was traditional with the Powhatan, and Pocahontas' actions were probably one part of a ritual. Although the colony had been resupplied, along with new settlers, in January , the settlers hit another low in the winter of , a period that became known as the "starving time," according to Historic Jamestowne.

By this time, Smith had been forced to leave due to gunpowder injuries, and the colony's new governor, Thomas Gates, had been shipwrecked on the island of Bermuda along with essential supplies. The site was also not inhabited by the Native population. Once the spot was chosen the instructions sent by the Virginia Company, with the list of the council members chosen by officials in England , was read.

The names were kept in a sealed box on the ship each ship had a sealed copy. By June 15, the fort was completed. It was triangle shaped with a bulwark at each corner, holding four or five pieces of artillery. The settlers were now protected against any attacks that might occur from the local Powhatan Indians, whose hunting land they were living on. Relations had already been mixed between the newcomers and the Powhatan Indians.

On June 22, Captain Newport left for England to get more supplies for the new settlement. Not long after Captain Newport left, the settlers began to succumb to a variety of diseases. They were drinking water from the salty or slimy river, which was one of several things that caused the death of many. The death tolls were high. They were dying from swellings, fluxes, fevers, by famine, and sometimes by wars. Food was running low, though then Chief Powhatan starting to send gifts of food to help the English.

If not for the Powhatan Indians help in the early years, the settlement would most likely have failed, as the English would have died from the various diseases or simply starved. By late , the relationship between the Powhatan Indians and the English had soured as the English were demanding too much food during a drought. That winter of is known as the "Starving Time. As a result they ate anything they could: various animals, leather from their shoes and belts, and sometimes fellow settlers who had already died.

In May , shipwrecked settlers who had been stranded in Bermuda finally arrived at Jamestown. Part of a fleet sent the previous fall, the survivors used two boats built on Bermuda to get to Jamestown. Sir Thomas Gates, the newly named governor, found Jamestown in shambles with the palisades of the fort torn down, gates off their hinges, and food stores running low. The decision was made to abandon the settlement.

Less than a day after leaving, however, Gates and those with him, including the survivors of the "Starving Time," were met by news of an incoming fleet. The fleet was bringing the new governor for life, Lord Delaware. Gates and his party returned to Jamestown.