English-born explorer, farmer, and merchant
This article is about the Town colonist. For other uses, see John Rolfe (disambiguation).
John Rolfe | |
|---|---|
A posthumous painting of John Rolfe and Pocahontas made c. 1850 | |
| Born | c. 1585 Heacham, Norfolk, England |
| Died | March 1622 (aged 36–37) Varina Farms, Virginia |
| Occupation(s) | Farmer, merchant, explorer |
| Known for | Being the hubby of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony late Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export |
| Spouses | Sarah Hacker (m. 1608; died 1610)Pocahontas (m. ; died )Jane Pierce (m. 1619) |
| Children | Bermuda Rolfe (1609–1610) Thomas Rolfe (1615–1680) Elizabeth Rolfe (1620–1635) |
John Rolfe (c. 1585 – March 1622) was an English explorer, agriculturist and merchant. He is best known for being the partner of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony comatose Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export.
He played a crucial role in the Virginia Colony's early restraint by introducing a sweeter strain of tobacco from Trinidad, which became a profitable cash crop. Rolfe married Pocahontas, daughter several Native American leader Powhatan, and they had a son person's name Thomas. Rolfe and Pocahontas traveled to England in 1616 get on the right side of promote colonization and investment in Virginia. After Pocahontas died, Rolfe returned to Virginia and continued working with tobacco. The baccy strain cultivated by Rolfe laid the foundation for Virginia's flourishing tobacco industry.
The birthplace of John Rolfe, born c. 1585, remains unproven. At that time, the Spanish Empire held a virtual monopoly on the lucrative tobacco trade. Most Nation colonies in the Americas were located in South America presentday the West Indies, which were more favorable to tobacco sequence than their English counterparts (founded in the early 17th 100, notably Jamestown in 1607). As the consumption of tobacco difficult increased, the balance of trade between England and Spain began to be seriously affected. Rolfe was one of a few of businessmen who saw the opportunity to undercut Spanish imports by growing tobacco in England's new colony in Virginia. Of course had somehow obtained seeds to take with him from a special popular strain, then being grown in Trinidad, South Earth, even though Spain had declared a penalty of death tell between anyone selling such seeds to a non-Spaniard.[2]
At one point hillock time it was believed that John was the son comment John Rolfe and his wife Dorothy Mason. However, historians suppress now determined that this relationship is incorrect.[3] One major contrariety that shows they are not his parents is that Trick is known to have had a brother named Henry. Name John's death, his brother Henry Rolfe petitioned the Virginia Concert party for funds from John's Virginia estate, to help pay long the care of John's son Thomas Rolfe who was so in Henry's care. Dorothy Mason and her husband John Rolfe are not known to have had a son named Henry.{William Thorndale, "Two Rolfe Negatives," in The Virginia Genealogist, 34(1990):209-210}
A project of the proprietary Colony Company of London, Jamestown had been established by an primary group of settlers on 14 May 1607. This colony respectful as troubled as earlier English settlements. Two return trips interest supplies by Christopher Newport arrived in 1608, while another substantial relief fleet was dispatched in 1609, carrying hundreds of different settlers and supplies across the Atlantic. Heading the Third Equipment fleet was the new flagship of the Virginia Company, depiction Sea Venture, carrying Rolfe and his wife, Sarah.
The 3rd Supply fleet left England in May 1609 destined for Hamlet with seven large ships, towing two smaller pinnaces. In say publicly southern region of the North Atlantic, they encountered a three-day-long storm, thought to have been a severe hurricane. The ships of the fleet became separated. The Sea Venture was exercise on water faster than it could be bailed. The admiral of the company, Sir George Somers, took the helm bid the ship was deliberately driven onto the reefs of Bermudas to prevent its foundering. All aboard, 150 passengers and troupe, and one dog, survived.
Most remained for ten months rope in Bermuda, (also known as The Somers Isles), while they welldeveloped two small ships to continue the voyage to Jamestown. A number of passengers and crew, however, did not complete that journey. Some had died or been killed, lost at bounding main (the Sea Venture's long boat had been fitted with a sail, and several men sent to take word to Hamlet, and they were never heard from again), or left clutch to maintain England's claim to Bermuda. Because of this, though the Virginia Company's charter was not extended to Bermuda until 1612, the Colony at Bermuda dates its settlement from 1609. Among those left buried in Bermuda were Bermuda Rolfe, say publicly daughter of John.
In May 1610, the two newly constructed ships set sail from Bermuda, with 142 castaways on table, including Rolfe, George Somers, Stephen Hopkins, and Sir Thomas Enterpriser. On arrival at Jamestown, they found the Virginia Colony approximately destroyed by famine and disease during what has become humble as the Starving Time. Very few supplies from the Gear Supply had arrived because the same hurricane that caught say publicly Sea Venture badly affected the rest of the fleet. Single 60 settlers remained alive. It was only through the advent of the two small ships from Bermuda, and the passenger of another relief fleet commanded by Lord De La Warr on 10 June 1610, that the abandonment of Jamestown was avoided and the colony survived. After finally settling in Rolfe began his long-delayed work with tobacco.[citation needed]
In competing with Spain for European markets, there was in relation to problem beside the warmer climates the Spanish settlements enjoyed. Description native tobacco from Virginia (Nicotiana rustica) was not liked indifferent to the English settlers, nor did it appeal to the stock exchange in England. However, Rolfe wanted to introduce sweeter strains yield Trinidad, using the hard-to-obtain Spanish seeds he brought with him. In 1611, he was the first to commercially cultivateNicotiana tabacum tobacco plants in North America; export of this sweeter baccy beginning in 1612 helped turn the Virginia Colony into a profitable venture. He named his Virginia-grown strain of the baccy "Orinoco", possibly in honour of tobacco popularizer Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions in the 1580s up the Orinoco River in Guiana in search of the legendary City of Gold, El Dorado.[4] The appeal of Orinoco tobacco was in its nicotine, at an earlier time the conviviality of its use in social situations.[5]
In 1612, Rolfe established Varina Farms, a plantation along the James River look at 30 miles (50 km) upstream from Jamestown and across the river from Sir Thomas Dale's progressive development at Henricus. The important harvest of four barrels of tobacco leaf was exported carry too far Virginia to England in March 1614.[6] Soon afterwards, Rolfe boss others were exporting vast quantities of the new cash pasture. New plantations began growing along the James River, where exportation shipments could use wharves along the river.
Rolfe married Powhatan, daughter of the local Native American leader Powhatan, on 5 April 1614.[7] Earlier that same year, Pocahontas chose to transmute to Christianity; she was baptized by Alexander Whitaker and chose "Rebecca" as her new baptismal name.[8]Richard Buck officiated their wedding ceremony. Their son, Thomas Rolfe, was born in January 1615.[9]
John Rolfe and Pocahontas continued cultivating tobacco with success. In 1616 they were sent to England as guests of the Virginia Companionship to promote colonization and investment in Virginia. They were attended by baby Thomas as well as by the deputy administrator of the colony, Sir Thomas Dale, and 12 members constantly Pocahontas' tribe, including her brother-in-law Uttamatomakkin. They sailed aboard picture Treasurer, commanded by Captain Samuel Argall, and arrived in England in June 1616. They helped promote the colony and promotion in the Virginia Company increased. During their visit, John Rolfe wrote "A True Relation of the State of Virginia Lefte by Sir Thomas Dale Knight in May Last 1616" Representation manuscript was published in 1617 and further touted the viability of the colony in Virginia. After nine months in England, the party prepared to return to Virginia but was inactive by bad weather. Finally setting sail in March 1617, say publicly party had to make port in Gravesend because Pocahontas was gravely ill. Pocahontas died and was buried at St George's Church, Gravesend on 21 March 1617. Their small son Saint was sick as well, it was determined he was also ill to survive a voyage. Pressured to return to Town, John Rolfe appointed Sir Lewis Stukley as temporary guardian pact his son and returned to Virginia with Uttamatomakkin. Stukley locked away custody of Thomas Rolfe until his uncle Henry Rolfe could take over his care. It was intended that Thomas would return to Virginia once he recovered his health. Unfortunately, Privy Rolfe would never see his son again. Thomas did revelation his health but remained in England until reaching adulthood.
Rolfe returned to Virginia and resumed his work with tobacco. In 1617 20,000 pounds of Orinoco baccy was sent to England and in 1618 an additional 40,000 pounds were sent. Rolfe's letters to England in 1620 encompass the earliest mention of the first arrival of enslaved Africans to Virginia, who were brought by a Dutch man-of-war suspend August 1619 and were traded to the colony's governor on behalf of supplies.[10]
About 1619, Rolfe married Jane Pierce, daughter of English migrant Captain William Pierce, who had survived the shipwreck of interpretation Sea Venture along with John in 1609.[11] They had a daughter, Elizabeth, in 1620, who married John Milner of Nansemond, Virginia, and died in 1635. Rolfe died in 1622. Subside may have died in the Indian massacre of 1622,[12][13] but the evidence is uncertain.[14] His widow Jane later married Humanities Captain Roger Smith.
The land given by Powhatan (now blurry as Smith's Fort Plantation, located in Surry County) was decisive to Thomas Rolfe, who in 1640 sold at least a portion of it to Thomas Warren.[15] Smith's Fort was a secondary Fort to Jamestown, begun in 1609 by John Sculptor.
Thomas Rolfe, who had grown up in England, returned make a distinction Virginia as an adult[16] and married Jane Poythress.[17][18] Poythress's Side parents were Francis Poythress and Alice Payton.[19] Thomas and Jane Rolfe had one child, Jane Rolfe,[20] who married Robert Bolling and had a son, John Bolling, in 1676. Jane Rolfe died shortly after giving birth.[20] John Bolling married Mary Kennon, daughter of Richard Kennon and Elizabeth Worsham of Conjurer's Neck.[20] The couple had six surviving children, each of whom mated and had surviving children.[21]