Page 4 - William Berkeley News Today

Cotton has sometimes been identified as the posthumous son of Anne Graves Cotton and William Cotton, the rector of Hungars Parish in Northampton County who died about 1640 or 1641, and as the John Cutten who with his wife Hannah Cutten, of that county, had a daughter in 1660 and a son in 1662, but extant records do not sustain either identification. The clergyman’s only known surviving child was a daughter, and it has been impossible to establish any relationship between John Cotton and any ...

The Whole Duty of Man , a Protestant devotional work published anonymously in 1658, the English author reminds readers that all servants owe their masters, as a matter of conscience, “obedience,” “Faithfulness,” “Patience and Meekness,” and “Diligence.” In Virginia, at least, such ideals were not always met. For instance, burgesses were forced to pass laws in response to servants who ran away and to those who, while still under contract, hired themselves out to new masters under...

Margaret Brent, born about 1601 in Gloucester, England, was one of thirteen children born to Richard and Elizabeth Brent. In 1638, she migrated to Maryland with her brother Giles and her sister Mary. The Brents were a Catholic family, and Margaret Brent and her siblings might have been motivated to move to Maryland where, unlike England, they could practice their religion without penalty. They were likely associated with or related to another Catholic family, the Calverts, who founded Maryland....

Indigenous Acknowledgment Virginia Humanities acknowledges the Monacan Nation, the original people of the land and waters of our home in Charlottesville, Virginia. We invite you to learn more about Indians in Virginia in our Encyclopedia Virginia.

Early Years Bacon was born on January 2, 1647, at Friston Hall in Suffolk County, England, the seat of his father. He was the only son and one of several children of Thomas Bacon and Elizabeth Brooke Bacon; his mother died shortly after his birth. Bacon matriculated at Saint Catherine’s College, Cambridge University, on May 5, 1661, but two years later his father withdrew him from school, probably due to his inattention to his studies, and hired a tutor to teach him. He made a tour of the Con...

The rebellion traces its origins to 1675 and a trading dispute between the Algonquian-speaking Doeg Indians and the Potomac River planter and merchant Thomas Mathew. As relations worsened, Mathew and his neighbors killed several Indians as they were making away with livestock. The Doegs retaliated by killing one of Mathew’s herdsmen. Virginia militia pursued the Doegs to Maryland and attacked their cabin, along with the cabin of innocent Susquehannock hunters, who were taken completely by sur...

The Anglo-Powhatan Wars (also given as Powhatan Wars) were a series of conflicts between the English colonists of Virginia, North America, and the indigenous...

Presidents’ Day is actually Washington’s birthday, recognized by an Act of Congress for government offices in Washington, D.C., in 1879, and for all federal offices in 1885. In 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to create more three day weekends moved the observance of Washington’s birthday to the third Monday in February. As Abraham Lincoln was also born in February, so many States include him in the observance, and still other States include all the Presidents. George Washing...

" " In a confrontation at the Statehouse in Jamestown, Nathaniel Bacon (center) demanded that Gov. William Berkeley (on steps) give him a military commission that would authorize him to attack Native Americans on the frontier. Colonial Williamsburg Bacons Rebellion was a conflict that started like a lot of disagreements — with a drunken argument. But this short-lived uprising in 17th century Colonial America is considered to have had long-term consequences for Colonial settlements, poli...