jamestown
In May 1607, about 100 English colonists settled along the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, which became the first permanent English settlement in America. Things were not going well for the settlers because of famine, disease, and Native American attacks. Then, 27-year-old English adventurer John Smith, began to directed survival efforts and mapped the area. Smith was exploring the Chickahominy River in December 1607 along with two colonists, when they were captured by Powhatan warriors. At the time, the Powhatan confederacy consisted of around 30 Tidewater-area tribes led by Chief Wahunsonacock, known as Chief Powhatan to the English. In the attack, Smith’s companions were killed, but he was spared and released. The reason, according to a 1624 account by Smith, was because of the dramatic intercession of Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan’s 13-year-old daughter. Pocahontas either had an aversion to the attacks that her people carried out on the settlers, or she could see the writing on the wall where the settlers were concerned, and knew that they would not leave, but would rather begin to cause great hardship on the tribes, because of the attacks. Her real name was Matoaka, but she was given the nickname, Pocahontas, by her father. It is a name that has been translated variously as “playful one” and “my favorite daughter.” In 1608, Smith was made president of the Jamestown colony, but that did not improve matters to a great degree, and the settlement continued to suffer. An accidental fire destroyed much of the town, and hunger, disease, and the Indian attacks continued. Things were not looking good for the settlers. Pocahontas did what she could to ease the situation, often coming to Jamestown as an ambassador of her father. Sometimes Pocahontas came bearing gifts of food to help the starving settlers. She became a friend of the settlers and soon became acquainted with English ways. Unfortunately, Smith was injured from a fire in his gunpowder bag and was forced to return to England in 1609.
With Smith no longer in charge, relations with the Powhatan deteriorated. The attacks continued, and many settlers died from famine and disease in the winter of 1609-10. The settlers were about to give up and go back to England…thereby abandoning Jamestown, when Baron De La Warr (also known as Delaware) arrived in June 1610 with new supplies. It was just in time, and the settlers began to rebuild the settlement. The Delaware River and the colony of Delaware were later named after Baron De La Warr. John Rolfe also arrived in Jamestown in 1610 and two years later cultivated the first tobacco there, introducing a successful source of livelihood that would have far-reaching importance for Virginia.
Still, things were far from perfect in the rea. In the spring of 1613, English Captain Samuel Argall took Pocahontas hostage, hoping to use her to negotiate a permanent peace with her father. Seriously, kidnapping a man’s daughter is hardly the way to make peace. Pocahontas was taken to Jamestown, where she was put under the custody of Sir Thomas Gates, the marshal of Virginia. The good news was that Gates treated her as a guest rather than a prisoner and encouraged her to learn English customs. She converted to Christianity and was baptized Lady Rebecca. After much trepidation, Powhatan agreed to the terms for her release, but by then she had fallen in love with John Rolfe, who was about 10 years her senior. On April 5, 1614, Pocahontas and John Rolfe married with the blessing of Chief Powhatan and the governor of Virginia. In this case, what might have been viewed as a marriage of convenience, was actually one of love…and of convenience. Their marriage brought a peace between the English colonists and the Powhatans, and in 1615 Pocahontas gave birth to their first child, Thomas. In 1616, the couple sailed to England. Dubbed the Indian Princess, Pocahontas proved popular with the English gentry, and she was presented at the court of King James I.
In March 1617, as Pocahontas and Rolfe were preparing to sail back to Virginia…in fact, the day before they 
were to leave, Pocahontas died of smallpox. I’m sure Rolfe wished he had never brought her to England. She was buried at the parish church of Saint George in Gravesend, England. John Rolfe returned to Virginia and was killed in a Native American massacre in 1622. After an education in England, their son Thomas Rolfe returned to Virginia and became a prominent citizen.
When people first began immigrating to the English Colonies, travel was not easy. In fact, sometimes it was absolutely treacherous. The only way to reach the new world was to travel by ship, and since storms were not able to be predicted far in advance, like they are these days, they sometimes found themselves at the mercy of the raging storm they were caught in. The first person known to have reached Bermuda was the Spanish sea captain Juan de Bermúdez in 1503. The islands are named after him. He claimed the islands for the Spanish Empire. De Bermúdez never landed on the islands, but made two visits to the island chain, and over the course of those visits, he created a recognizable map. I’m sure that at some point, de Bermúdez assumed that there would be people living on the islands, but it was not expected to be quite as soon as it was, or in quite the way that it was populated.
On July 28, 1609, a ship named Sea Ventureran into a reef that surrounds Bermuda during a hurricane. The ship was on its way to Jamestown, Virginia, but would not make it to that destination. The Sea Venture set out for Virginia on June 2, 1609, under the command of Sir George Somers, admiral of the fleet, with Christopher Newport as captain and Sir Thomas Gates, Governor of the colony. Sea Venture sailed with a fleet of ships, including the Falcon, Diamond, Swallow, Unity, Blessing, Lion, and two smaller ships. The ships were only eight days from the coast of Virginia, when they were suddenly caught in a hurricane. The Sea Venture became separated from the rest of the fleet, while its crew fought the storm for three days. Other ships the size of Sea Venture had successfully fought and survived such weather, but the Sea Venture had a one major problem. The Sea Venture was a new ship, and its timbers had not yet set. The storm forced the caulking from between the timbers, and the ship began to leak rapidly. The crew began desperately bailing, but water continued to pour into the hold. The crew threw some of the guns overboard in an effort to make the ship lighter, but this only delayed the inevitable.
The island was owned as an extension of Virginia by the Virginia Company until 1614. Then the Somers Isles Company, took over in 1615 and managed the colony until 1684. At that time, the company’s charter was 
revoked, and England took over administration. Bermuda became a British colony following the 1707 unification of the parliaments of Scotland and England, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. After 1949, when Newfoundland became part of Canada, Bermuda became the oldest remaining British overseas territory. After the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, Bermuda became the most populated British territory. Today, Bermuda is a popular vacation spot for many tourists. Cruise ships and planes arrive daily. I’m sure the islands would have eventually been populated, but in the case of Bermuda, it was very much an accidental population, caused by an unfortunate ship wreck that first brought its survivors to the islands.
I have heard quite often about a trip that my great grandfather, Carl Schumacher took back to the old country…Germany. As far as I know it was the only trip he ever took back there to see his family and also spend some time with my great grandmother, Henriette’s family. The trip was taken in 1907, when my Great Aunt Bertie was just 8 years old. Grandpa wanted to show his family that he was doing well, as was his family, and show them his family, since they had never met them. He had a picture that was taken in front of the house with the women standing there, and the 14 horses they owned at the time along side. The men were holding the horses, and at the end of the line was Albert “trying to hold down” his horse, Beauty, which only he and Mina dared to ride. As it turned out, his family thought that his family must be rich, to own so many horses. They thought it was the right decision to move to America. They must have thought it was easy to get rich in America, when in reality, they weren’t wealthy. The family had what they had because of hard work and a little frugality.
In all, my great grandfather would spend three months in Germany. That is a long time to be away from his family, but it made perfect sense, because getting there was not a quick trip in itself. Traveling by ship both ways was a slow mode of travel, so it made no sense to go if you weren’t going to stay a while. Upon his return, my Great Aunt Bertie went off by herself for a few minutes. She needed to cry a little for the joy of having him back. But while she needed a little cry to release the pent up loneliness she had been feeling, she was also very excited about the things he brought with him. The family back in Germany wanted to send some gifts back for the family with him, and they were magnificent. While Bertie only tells of the things she and Elsa received, I can imagine that the gifts for the rest of the family were equally magnificent.
Nevertheless, everyone was excited about the dolls that were sent for Bertie and Elsa. The dolls were three feet tall with human hair. They were beautifully dressed in pale blue dresses made by a dressmaker in Germany. They had little cloth bracelets of lace at their wrists, and their hands moved separately from the arms. The dresses were trimmed everywhere with tucks and lace of pale blue. On their feet were baby stockings and real leather slippers. The dolls were so big that Bertie and Elsa really couldn’t easily play with them, so they were given 
a special place in the parlor, where everyone could see and enjoy their beauty. When Bertie and Elsa moved to Colorado, many years later, they were unable to take the dolls with them, so they donated the dolls to a Crippled Children’s Home near Jamestown, North Dakota. The dolls were completely renovated and beautifully dressed, and were locked in a glass case for viewing only.
I have to wonder if my great aunts were a little sad when the donated their dolls, for while they were children anymore, the dolls were such a special gift, and had come from so far and with so much love that it must have been like leaving a little bit of their hearts behind too. Still, they must have brought much joy and happiness to the children who got to look at them.
