Captain John Smith and The Virginia Company

The resourcefulness and energies of John Smith proved more and more valuable to the colonists, until he was singled out as the leader at Jamestown. For two years, he explored the territory in and around Chesapeake Bay, traded with the Indians for food, enforced order and work among the settlers, and probably saved Jamestown Colony from complete extinction.

Captain John Smith (1580-1631) of Willoughby, Lincolnshire, by the young age of 24 years, had already served in the Dutch Wars and in the Near East. He escaped his Turkish war captors and returned to England in 1604. While there, he became interested in the newly chartered Virginia Company and arranged to be among the first settlers in 1606.

Due to jealousy and discord with the leaders of the first settlers, Smith arrived at Jamestown in chains in 1607 and he was considered a mutineer. Once settled on the shore, the sealed box of instructions from the Virginia Company was opened and Smith learned he was to be a member of the Council of the Colony.

His resourcefulness and energies proved more and more valuable to the colonists, until he was singled out as the leader of all at Jamestown. For two years, he explored the territory in and around Chesapeake Bay, traded with the Indians for food, enforced order and work among the settlers, and probably saved Jamestown Colony from complete extinction. Time proved his firm actions correct. Of the 500 settlers left at Jamestown when he returned to England, late in 1609, only 60 settlers were found alive when the new leaders arrived from Bermuda.  

Having quarreled with the Virginia Company, Smith sailed to New England in 1614 and mapped the eastern coast from Penobscot Bay to Cape Cod. In 1615, he tried to return to New England but was forced by violent storms to return to England. For all his hopes for the Plymouth Company, he never saw America again.

Now, almost penniless and living in England, he received a visit from the Princess Pocahontas (Lady Rebecca) and John Rolfe. Captain John Smith spent the remainder of his life writing of his military exploits and adventures. His books are a bit boastful, and former generations have taken a distinct dislike to Captain Smith. However, foreign records, especially those found in Hungarian Archives, have verified his claims. Captain Smith died in London, June, 1631, and was buried in St. Sepulcher’s Church without Newgate. His epitaph on a brass plate on the wall of the sanctuary of the Royal Fusiliers’ Chapel is there for all to read.  In addition, a large stained glass window was installed in 1969.