Daily Life in Jamestown

Hello, welcome to my blog about my life in Jamestown. I have a lovely wife who cooks and takes care of our 12 children, previously 17 but our 5 children died on the boat ride from England:(

[newyorkmiddlecolony]

This is my favorite photograph from arriving to this colony. My friends and I looking out at this unknown place we were about to call home, whether we liked it or not. Some worried, scared, and even excited. 

There I was, on a boat to somewhere I didn’t know. All I knew is I wanted to do something with my life with new opportunities, help people, help my family. Days later I arrived to the New Netherlands or New Amsterdam as others called it, which is now called the New York Colony. You see, my name is Richard Currey and I am Dutch, as well as one of the first immigrants to arrive in the colony of New York. A lot of people that are Dutch and from the Netherlands were the first people here. We started the population in this colony, without even knowing it. This colony was founded not long ago in 1626 by some guy named Peter Minuit (Duke of York), whom I don’t personally know. The Duke of York also granted some land much after, which was later known as New Jersey. I’ve never been to New Jersey, but I always wanted to visit. I wondered if it would be anything like New York and its people. Although New York did not just have one founder, but Minuit was the first. The major towns that we knew about were New York City and Albany. I didn’t quite know much other than that right when I came. But that’s how it all started and it’s been crazy ever since. As well as different from the Netherlands…

[george1722]

Richard, I one hundred percent sympathize with you about the varying emotions  about New York. When I was on the boat from England to Jamestown I remember feeling anxious yet excited and my wife just feeling anxious. Going to a new place full of strangers and not knowing what you are going to do there is absolutely terrifying. Yet going to that new place where its full  of opportunities is possibly the best thing you could do for yourself. I hope everything turns out great.

Sincerely,

George Hamilton  

[newenglanders101-deactivated201]

It is 1692 and major chaos is going on in Salem, Massachusetts. My family is in danger, I’ve dropped out of Harvard to protect my mother. A group of girls are claiming to have been bewitched by a group of people, part of that group is claimed to be my mother. A large witch hunt has been...

[george1722]

Andrew, I am so sorry for the loss of your mother. I know very well the pain of losing a someone you love dearly. My and wife lost five children on the boat ride from England to Jamestown. I also know the fear you had during the the Salem Witch Trials and the instinct to protect your mother because that is how I felt about my wife and kids when the Indians invaded my house. I hope everything turns out all out.

Sincerely,

George Hamilton 

[george1722]

It is the morning of Friday, 22 March 1622. My family and I were asleep when braves of the Powhatan Confederacy came unarmed into our house with deer, turkeys, fish, and fruits to sell us. The Powhatan then grabbed any tools or weapons available and attempted to kill us. I fought them off as best as I could but they had already killed nine of my children, which now leaves me with only three. My remaining family and I are hiding underneath my bed as I'm writing this post. My kids are sobbing into my wife's chest and I can't help but feel guilty for all of this. If I didn't insist we move from England to Jamestown me and my family would be still be whole and happy instead, the amount of kids I  have are dwindling down and I have never been this scared in my entire life. Oh no, I hear footsteps coming down the hall, I'm afraid this might be my last blog post, I'm afraid this might be my last breathe.    

[george1722]

Tensions have been building between settlers and the Indians for a while a now  without my knowledge. I have asked around for information and in this post I will explain those tensions. So at first natives were glad to trade with the colonists but by 1609 John Smith had begun to send raiding parties to demand for food which started a conflict. Settlers then isolated the Native Americans, burned their house and stole their food. This created he starving time where a lot of colonists died, which was not told to me back in England. The English then realized they needed to maintain a civil relationship with the Powhatan so they could benefit from trade with them, therefore peace was restored. The Powhatan soon realized that the English wanted more than just to trade with them, they wanted land. In 1618 after the First Anglo-Powhatan War, Powhatan died and his brother became chief of the confederacy. I was very shocked by all of this because in England whenever someone talked about Jamestown it was all good things. Then a couple days ago a settler murdered Powhatan brother's adviser and I have feeling he is not going to just let that go, and as always I will keep you posted.  

[george1722]

2 weeks, 14 days, 336 hours, 20,160 minutes, and 1,209,600 seconds  have past since my last post, my apologies. Since arriving to Jamestown I have been trying to accustom myself to life in Jamestown. Some of the settlers here were hoping to produce silk so we planted mulberry trees to feed silkworms. We had little success. On the bright side carpenters have been sent over to start  construction on the East India School, which now have a number of houses and tavern to lodge guests. I hear that a portion of the school will be set aside for educating the Indians, which is interesting because I don't think the Indians like us very much, for reasons I'm not sure of yet but will keep you posted. My wife misses her family terribly and it is hard to make friends her for her since the population is mostly male. She just needs to hang in there because I know in my heart that this move was the best thing possible for our family.

[george1722]

Today is combined with one of the greatest days in my life with one of the saddest days in my life. My youngest five children have passed on:( Emilia and I are heartbroken, she was the only women in her family to not lose any child. Emilia’s own mother lost 9 children during infancy. My remaining 12 children won’t stop crying over the loss of their siblings, which is totally understandable. My heart aches for my children, they shouldn’t have to endure these kind of hardships and pain at such a young age. And the thing that puts salt on the wound was the fact that me and my family couldn’t even have a proper burial for our deceased family, they were just simply thrown off the boat along with the other dead bodies as if they were nothing, how cruel could someone get; Emilia was so heartbroken she threatened to jump off the the boat with them, it was devastating. 

The thing that finally brightened up my family's somber mood was our arrival in Jamestown. I stepped off he boat with my family and was hit with this sudden warmth, I already had broke a sweat. I was surrounded by green, they were forests everywhere, thick too!!!! I looked down at my children and saw the awe in their faces. It warmed my heart to know after all that my family has ben through, we were finally here at the place where we would grow and prosper. 

[george1722]

It’s 1622, me and my 17 children and wife Emilia are on the boat to a colony named Jamestown from England. My five youngest children are constantly getting sick and throwing up, Emilia is really worried about them but I know there going to pull through until we arrive at Jamestown. No one can really blame them for getting seasick, the ocean is rough and choppy. Even I have gotten sick a numerous amount of times. There are buckets for bathrooms that are not rooted to the ground so when the boat gets hit by a wave, the buckets go very which way, sometimes even on to the people. The stench is overwhelming, I can’t even describe it. The smell of human waste combined with every living and breathing things’ combined with sweat and vomit, but worse, is the odor I have smelled for almost 4 and a half months. But I know my family’s life will be bettered when we finally arrive in Jamestown.