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Thomas Gray and Jamestown, Virginia |
Thomas Gray, who arrived at or before the time of Sir
Thomas Dale, is my earliest ancestor to arrive in the Colonies. He
was an “Ancient Planter” of Jamestown arriving around 1608.
On April 10, 1606, King James I granted a charter to Sir Thomas Gates and a group of entrepreneurs for several colonies to be made in Virginia and other parts of America. From this, 104 people sailed from London in December,
1606, in the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery.
On May 13, 1607, they arrived at Jamestown Island, 60 miles up the James River.
The “First Supply” of one hundred and twenty colonists in the John &
Francis and the Phoenix arrived eight or nine months later.
In October, 1608, the “Second Supply,” the Mary & Margaret, arrived
with sixty persons. |
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In June 1609, Sir Thomas Gates, who was chosen
as governor, left England with a fleet of seven ships, known as the
“Third Supply,” carrying about 500 settlers. The ships were scattered
by a storm. Gates’ vessel was wrecked on the coast of Bermuda.
The other six ships of the fleet proceeded onto Virginia. On May 20, 1610,
Sir Thomas Gates arrived in Virginia from the Bermuda Islands in two small
boats that they built. They found 60 survivors from months of starvation.
Thomas Gates and the Colony Counsel decided to leave with the remaining members
of the colony for England via Newfoundland. Whey they had sailed approximately
20 miles down the river to Point Comfort, they met three ships with 250 persons
with store of provisions. These ships were under the under the command
of Lord La Ware. The next day the settlers returned to take charge
of James Towne. On March 27, 1611, Sir Thomas Dale left England with 300
people and supplies on three ships. He was Governor of Virginia from
1611 – 1616. Despite Dale’s efforts, only 300 were living in Virginia
in 1616. The first representative assembly in the New World convened
in the Jamestown church on July 30, 1619. The House of Burgesses met
in response to orders from the Virginia Company "to establish one equal and
uniform government over all Virginia" which would provide "just laws for
the happy guiding and governing of the people there inhabiting."(2) On March 22, 1622, the Algonquian Indians, under the leadership
of Opecanaugh, massacred 347 of the 1240 white inhabitants of the colony.
The warning of Christian Indian Chanco saved James Towne and the neighboring
settlements.(1) |
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There were grants of land to those who came to Virginia before the close of 1616; who survived the massacre in 1622, and who appeared in the Muster of 1624/25 as then living in Virginia. These individuals were given the term, “Ancient Planters”. There were approximately 90 individuals listed as
“Ancient Planters”. Thomas Gray is listed as “an Ancient Planter at or before
the time of Sir Thomas Dale”. The date of his arrival was given as
1608.(1) Virginia Land Grants to Thomas Gray: Thomas Gray, 550 acres – James City County, November 18, 1618. 100 acres due as an “Ancient Planter” at or before the time of Sir Thomas Dale (March 27, 1611). 50 acres for the personal adventure of Avis (Annie), his first wife into the colony; 50 acres for the personal adventure of Rebecca, his now wife, and 350 for transportation of his two sons, William Gray and Thomas Gray, and five servants – May 26, 1638.(2)(3) Thomas Gray patented land in Surry County, Virginia,
in 1635, 1639 and 1642. He was born in 1593 and died after 1653.
He left four sons, William, Thomas, John and Francis Gray. Gray’s Creek
opposite to Jamestown Island gets its name from him.(4)
Famous people at Jamestown include Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.
Footnotes: 1. The Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstract of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623- 1666, Abstracted and Indexed by Nell Marion Nugents, Volume One. pp. xi–xxxiii. 2. The Cavaliers and Pioneers, Abstract of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666, Abstracted and Indexed by Nell Marion Nugents, Volume One. page 31. 3. Ruffins, Gray & Allied Families. Ancestry of Lenore Barber O’Donnell, Woodville, Ms. Film #0875360, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Ut. pp. 4 - 6. 4. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography, by Lyon G. Tyler, Vol. I, page 247. |
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