Old churches, ministers and families of Virginia

As it is an important object with the writer to furnish proofs
of the benevolent and religious spirit which actuated the friends
and patrons of the Colony, before proceeding with our narrative
we invite the attention of the reader to the two following documents.
The first was written in the year 1612, and may be found
in a pamphlet entitled "The New Life of Virginia," and shows the
spirit of the author toward the Indians.

"And for the poor Indians, what shall I say? but God, that hath many
ways showed mercy to you, make you show mercy to them and theirs, and
howsoever they may seem unto you so intolerably wicked and rooted in
mischief that they cannot be moved, yet consider rightly and be not discouraged.
They are no worse than the nature of Gentiles, and even of
those Gentiles so heinously decyphered by St. Paul, to be full of wickedness,
haters of God, doers of wrong, such as could never be appeased, and yet
himself did live to see that by the fruits of his own labours many thousands
even of them became true believing Christians, and of whose race
and offspring consisteth (well-near) the whole Church of God at this day.
This is the work that we first intended, and have published to the world,
to be chief in our thoughts, to bring those Infidel people from the worship
of Devils to the service of God. And this is the knot that you must
untie or cut asunder, before you can conquer those sundrie impediments
that will surely hinder all other proceedings, if this be not first preferred.

"Take their children and train them up with gentleness, teach them
our English tongue and the principles of religion. Win the elder sort
by wisdom and discretion; make them equal to you English in case of
protection, wealth, and habitation, doing justice on such as shall do them
wrong. Weapons of war are needful, I grant, but for defence only,
and only in this case. If you seek to gain this victory upon them by
stratagems of war, you shall utterly lose it, and never come near it, but
shall make your names odious to all their posterity. Instead of iron and
steel, you must have patience and humanity, to manage their crooked
nature to your form of civility; for as our proverb is, `Look, how you
win them so you must wear them:' if by way of peace and gentleness,
then shall you always bring them in love to youwards, and in peace with
your English people, and, by proceeding in that way, shall open the
springs of earthly benefits to them both, and of safety to yourselves."

The following extracts are from "A Prayer for the Morning
and Evening Use of the Watch or Guard, to be offered up either
by the Captain himself, or some one of his principal men or
officers." It was probably prepared by Mr. Crashaw, and sent
out with Mr. Whittaker. It furnishes a just view of the religion
of that day,—at any rate, of those who were engaged in this enterprise.
It is also a fair specimen of the theology and devotion
of the English Reformers. While it is in faithful keeping with
the prayers of our Common Prayer Book, it shows that our forefathers
did not object to, but freely used, other prayers besides
those in the Prayer Book. The reader is requested not to pass
over it, but to read it in a prayerful spirit:—

"Merciful Father, and Lord of Heaven and Earth, we come before
thy presence to worship thee, in calling upon thy name, and giving
thanks unto thee. And though our duties and our very necessities call
us hereunto, yet we confess our hearts to be so dull and untoward, that
unless thou be merciful to us to teach us how to pray, we shall not please
thee, nor profit ourselves in these duties.

"We, therefore, most humbly beseech thee to raise up our hearts with
thy good Spirit, and so to dispose us to prayer, that with true fervour of
heart, feeling of our wants, humbleness of mind, and faith in thy gracious
promises, we may present our suits acceptably unto thee by our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.

"And now, O blessed Lord, we are desirous to come unto thee, how
wretched soever in ourselves; yea, our very wretchedness sends us unto
thee, with whom the fatherless and he that hath no helper findeth mercy.
We come to thee in thy Son's name, not daring to come in our own.
In his name that cares for us we come to thee, in his mediation whom
thou hast sent. In him, O Father, in whom thou hast professed thyself
to be well pleased, we come unto thee, and do most humbly beseech thee
to pity us, and to save us for thy mercies' sake in him.

"O Lord, our God, our sins have not outbidden that blood of thy
Holy Son which speaks for our pardon, nor can they be so infinite as thou
art in thy mercies; and our hearts, O God! (thou seest them,) our
hearts are desirous to have peace with thee, and war with our lusts, and
wish that they could melt before thee, and be dissolved into godly
mourning, for all that filth that hath gone through them and defiled
them.

"O Lord! O Lord our God! thou hast dearly bought us for thine
own self: give us so honest hearts as may be glad to yield the possession
of thine own, and be thou so gracious, as yet to take them up, though we
have desperately held thee out of them in time past; and dwell in us and
reign in us by thy Spirit, that we may be sure to reign with thee in thy
glorious kingdom, according to thy promise, through him that hath purchased
that inheritance for all that trust in him.

"And now, O Lord of mercy! O Father of the spirits of all flesh!
look in mercy upon the Gentiles who yet know thee not! And seeing
thou hast honoured us to choose us out to bear thy name unto the Gentiles,

we therefore beseech thee to bless us, and this our plantation, which
we and our nation have begun in thy fear, and for thy glory. We know,
O Lord! we have the Devil and all the gates of Hell against us; but
if thou, O Lord, be on our side, we care not who be against us! Oh,
therefore vouchsafe to be our God, and let us be a part and portion of thy
people; confirm thy covenant of grace and mercy with us, which thou
hast made to thy Church in Christ Jesus. And seeing, Lord, the highest
end of our plantation here is to set up the standard and display the banner
of Jesus Christ even here where Satan's throne is, Lord, let our labour
be blessed in labouring for the conversion of the heathen. And because
thou usest not to work such mighty works by unholy means, Lord, sanctify
our spirits, and give us holy hearts, that so we may be thy instruments
in this most glorious work.

"And whereas we have, by undertaking this plantation, undergone the
reproofs of this base world, insomuch as many of our own brethren
laugh us to scorn, O Lord, we pray thee fortify us against this temptation!

"And seeing this work must needs expose us to many miseries and dangers
of soul and body by land and sea, O Lord! we earnestly beseech thee
to receive us into thy favour and protection, defend us from the delusions
of the Devil, the malice of the heathen, the invasions of our enemies,
and mutinies and dissensions of our own people. Knit our hearts altogether
in faith and fear of thee, and love one to another; give us patience,
wisdom, and constancy to go on through all difficulties and temptations,
till this blessed work be accomplished for the honour of thy name and
glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

"And here, O Lord! we do upon the knees of our hearts offer thee
the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for that thou hast moved our hearts
to undertake the performance of this blessed work with the hazard of our
person, and hast moved the hearts of so many hundreds of our nation to
assist it with means and provision, and with their holy prayers. Lord,
look mercifully upon them all, and for that portion of their substance
which they willingly offer for thy honour and service in this action, recompense
it to them and theirs, and reward it sevenfold into their bosoms,
with better blessings. Lord, bless England, our sweet native country!
save it from Popery, this land from heathenism, and both from Atheism.
And, Lord, hear their prayers for us, and us for them, and Christ Jesus,
our glorious Mediator, for us all. Amen!"

We now proceed with the history.

The services of Lord De la War were of short duration, being
obliged to return to England early in 1611, by reason of ill
health. Before his arrival in England, the Council had sent Sir
Thomas Dale, giving him the title of High-Marshal of Virginia,
with a fresh supply of men and provisions, and with the Rev.
Alexander Whittaker, between whom and Sir Thomas there
appears to have ever been a strong attachment. They remained
together at Jamestown until the arrival of Sir Thomas Gates, in
the same year, with full powers as Governor, when Sir Thomas
Dale, the High-Marshal, by agreement with the Governor, went

higher up the river, with Mr. Whittaker and three hundred and
fifty men, to establish two new positions,—one of them called
New Bermuda, in what is now Chesterfield county, in the angle
formed by James River and the Appomattox, and which afterward
assumed and still retains the name of Bermuda Hundred;
the other was five or six miles higher up, on the opposite side of
the river, on what was called Farrar's Island, though it was, as
Jamestown, only a peninsula. This was called Henrico City. In
both of them churches were built, and small villages established,
and Mr. Whittaker was the minister of both, alternately residing
at each of them. As these were the first establishments after
Jamestown, and are intimately connected in their history with
that of Jamestown, the governors sometimes residing at Bermuda,
we shall unite them together in our notices, until the destruction
of Henrico in the great massacre of 1622. The Rev. Alexander
Whittaker was the son of that eminent theologian of Cambridge
who took part in drawing up the Lambeth Articles in the year
1595, and was, as his various writings show, one of the first theologians
and controversialists of his day. He was the friend and
companion of Hooker, and sympathized with him in his doctrinal
views. The son, Alexander Whittaker, was a graduate of Cambridge,
and had been for some years a minister in the North of
England, beloved and well supported by his people, with a handsome
inheritance from his parents. Crashaw says, "that having,
after many distractions and combats with himself, (according to
his own acknowledgment,) settled his resolution that God called
him to Virginia, and therefore he would go, he accordingly made
it good, notwithstanding the earnest dissuasions of some of his
nearest friends, and the great discouragements which he daily
heard of, touching the business and country itself." Again, says
the same, "He, without any persuasion but God and his own
heart, did voluntarily leave his warm nest, and, to the wonder of
his kindred and amazement of them that knew him, undertook
this hard, but, in my judgment, heroical resolution to go to Virginia,
and help to bear the name of God to the Gentiles. Men
may muse at it, some may laugh, and others wonder at it; but
well I know the reason. God will be glorified in his own works,
and what he hath determined to do, he will find means to bring it
to pass. For the perfecting of this blessed work he hath stirred up
able and worthy men to undertake the manning and managing of
it." Mr. Whittaker had given himself to this work for three
years, but at the end of that time, instead of returning to England,

as too many of the governors and other officers did, being
weary of their banishment, he preached a sermon and sent it
over to England, exhorting others to come over to his help, and
declaring his intention to live and die in the work here. His text
is, "Cast thy bread upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after
many days." Pleading for the nations, he says, "Wherefore, my
brethren, put on the bowels of compassion, and let the lamentable
estate of these miserables enter into your consideration. One God
created us. They have reasonable souls and intellectual faculties
as well as we. We all have Adam for our common parent; yea,
by nature the condition of us both is all one, the servants of sin
and slaves of the Devil. Oh, remember, I beseech you, what was
the state of England before the Gospel was preached in our
country." The whole sermon is full of such passages. In the
year 1614, after having spent three years at Bermuda Hundred
and Henrico, Sir Thomas Dale now removed to Jamestown, and,
as Mr. Anderson affirms, Whittaker returned with him to that
place. If so, he must, either before or after Sir Thomas's
return to England in 1616, have gone back again to his old congregations,
for, in the year 1617, Governor Argal, who succeeded
Sir Thomas Dale, writes to the Council, from Bermuda Hundred,
begging that a minister may be sent there, as Mr. Whittaker was
drowned, and Mr. Wickham was unable to administer the sacraments.
From this, it is probable that Mr. Wickham had been his
curate, in deacons' orders. I am aware that there is a letter
ascribed to a Rev. Mr. Stockam, and said to be dedicated to Mr.
Whittaker, at a later period. But this letter of the Governor,
declaring his death by drowning, would seem to be of higher
authority. Within the period of which we have been discoursing,
and during the ministry of Mr. Whittaker and the office of Dale
as High-Marshal, there occurred some things in the Colony
which deserve to be considered,—viz.: the conversion of Pocahontas
to the Christian faith, her baptism, and marriage to John
Rolph. The places of her residence, and of her baptism and marriage,
have been matter of discussion, and are not unworthy of notice.
As to the place of her birth and residence, there ought to be no
doubt. Her father, the great King Powhatan, lived chiefly on
York River, on the Gloucester side, some miles above York.
Here, or at a place higher up, it was that Captain Smith was
brought captive, and that Pocahontas saved his life. From one
of these places, she occasionally visited Jamestown, and there
doubtless became acquainted with Rolph, a young man of good

family and education from England, between whom and herself an
attachment was formed. In the year 1612, Captain Argal, afterwards
Governor for a short time, went up the Potomac River in
quest of provisions, and finding, accidentally, that Pocahontas was
there, artfully contrived to get her on board of his vessel, and
carried her prisoner to Jamestown, in order by that means to get
back from her father some of our men and arms, and implements
of husbandry which he had, from time to time, stolen from the
Colony. But he did not succeed in the effort. At this time, Sir
Thomas Dale and Mr. Whittaker were up the river, engaged in
their duties at Henrico and Bermuda Hundred. It is most probable
that Pocahontas was carried up the river to Sir Thomas
and Mr. Whittaker, as being a more distant place, and one of
greater safety, since her father might have attempted her rescue,
or she her escape from Jamestown, the place being so much nearer
to Powhatan's residence. Certain it is that, in the following year,
Sir Thomas himself went on the same errand, up York River,—
then called Charles River,—in a vessel, and succeeded in getting
the prisoners and property from Powhatan. He took Pocahontas
with him, and got her brothers to come on board and see her.
She did not now wish to return to her father, (for she was engaged
to Mr. Rolph,) and she did not go on shore to see him, as he
might have forced her to stay. Sir Thomas, however, on leaving,
caused the fact of her engagement to be made known to her
father, who was quite pleased, and, in ten days, sent over his old
uncle, Opachisco, and two of his sons, to bear his consent, and be
present at the marriage. It is, therefore, altogether probable
that the marriage took place at Jamestown, where Sir Thomas
would stop to deliver to Governor Gates an account of the success
of his expedition. From thence, they no doubt returned to
Henrico, which was their residence until they went to England,
with Governor Dale, in 1616. This I think to be the true
account, from an examination of all the documents on the subject.
As to the question whether her baptism was before or after marriage,
there are some conflicting testimonies. Mr. Stith, in his
History of Virginia, says,—

"All this while, Sir Thomas Dale, Mr. Whittaker, minister of Bermuda
Hundred, and Mr. Rolph, her husband, were very careful and
assiduous in instructing Pocahontas in the Christian religion; and she,
on her part, expressed an eager desire and showed great capacity for
learning. After she had been tutored for some time, she openly
renounced the idolatry of her country, confessed the faith of Christ, and

BAPTISM OF POCAHONTAS.

was baptized by the name of Rebecca. But her real name, it seems,
was originally Matoax, which the Indians carefully concealed from the
English, and changed it to Pocahontas, out of a superstitious fear, lest
they, by a knowledge of her true name, should be enabled to do her
some hurt. She was the first Christian Indian in these parts, and
perhaps the sincerest and most worthy that has ever been since. And
now she has no manner of desire to return to her father; neither could
she well endure the brutish manners or society of her own nation. Her
affection for her husband was extremely constant and true; and he, on
the other hand, underwent great torment and pain, out of his violent
passion and tender solicitude for her."

From the foregoing, we would infer that her marriage preceded
her baptism. On what authority Mr. Stith (who wrote his work
in 1746) relied, I know not, but the following testimony from Sir
Thomas Dale, in 1614, is certainly to be preferred. In a letter to
the Bishop of London, dated June 18, 1614, he thus writes:—

"Powhatan's daughter I caused to be carefully instructed in the Christian
religion, who, after she had made some good progress therein, renounced
publicly her country's idolatry, openly confessed her Christian faith, was,
as she desired, baptized, and is since married to an English gentleman of
good understanding, (as by his letter unto me, containing the reasons of
his marriage of her, you may perceive,) another knot to bind this peace
the stronger. Her father and friends gave approbation to it, and her
uncle gave her to him in the Church. She lives civilly and lovingly
with him, and I trust will increase in goodness, as the knowledge of God
increaseth in her. She will go into England with me; and, were it
but the gaining of this one soul, I will think my time, toil, and present
stay well spent."

According to this communication to the Bishop of London, Sir
Thomas Dale, whose return to England was delayed beyond his
wishes or expectation, did, in the year 1616, carry with him Mr.
Rolph and his wife. Her son, Thomas Rolph, was born while she
was in England. On her return, she suddenly died, at Gravesend.
The husband returned to this country, being made Recorder and
Secretary to the Colony. The son, after being educated in England
by his uncle, Henry Rolph, returned to America, and lived at Henrico,
where his parents had formerly lived, and afterward became
a person of fortune and distinction in the Colony.[23]

Concerning the reception and behaviour of Pocahontas in
London, I shall only give the account which Purchas, the celebrated
compiler of the many treatises called "Purchas's Pilgrims,"
has handed down to us:—

"She did not only accustom herself to civilitie, but still carried herself
as the daughter of a King, and was accordingly respected, not only
by the company, (London Company,) which allowed provision for herself
and son; but of divers particular persons of honour, in their hopeful zeal
by her to advance Christianity. I was present when my honourable and
reverend patron, the Lord-Bishop of London, Dr. King, entertained her
with festival, and state, and pomp, beyond what I have seen in his great
hospitalitie afforded to other ladies. At her return towards Virginia, she
came to Gravesend, to her end and grave, having given great demonstration
of her Christian sincerity, as the first fruits of Virginian conversions,
leaving here a godly memory and the hopes of her resurrection,
her soul aspiring to see and enjoy presently in Heaven what here she
had joyed to hear and believe of her beloved Saviour."

[23]

"He left behind him an only daughter, who was married to Colonel Robert
Bolling, by whom she left an only son, Major John Bolling, who was the father
of Colonel John Bolling, and of several daughters, one of whom married Colonel
Richard Randolph, another Colonel Fleming, a third Dr. William Gay, a fourth
Mr. Thomas Eldridge, and the last Mr. James Murray." To this statement of
Stith, one of the family has furnished me with the following addition:—"The son
of Pocahontas, Thomas Rolph, married a Miss Poythress. Their grandson, John
Bolling, married a Miss Kennon, whose son John married a Miss Blair, of Williamsburg,
while Richard Randolph, of Curls, fourth in descent from Pocahontas,
married Miss Ann Meade, sister of Colonel R. K. Meade. Their daughter married
Mr. William Bolling, of Bolling Hall, Goochland county, each of them being fifth
in descent from Pocahontas."

University of Virginia Library

ARTICLE IV.

The Parish of James City.—No. 2.

BAPTISM OF POCAHONTAS.