Melungeon-L Archives

Archiver > Melungeon > 2004-09 > 1096285117


From: "ernest hurst" <>
Subject: RE: [Melungeon] Origin of the Melungeons - 1619, Part 1
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 07:38:37 -0400


I find it interesting that the ship "Treasurer" played a part in these
folks' arrival, as it did in the arrival of the probable progenitor of the
Virginia Hurst clan. According to the 7 February 1624/25 muster for
"Elizabeth Cittie", Tobias Hurst arrived in 1618 on the ship "Treasurer"
from London. I might yet find a verifiable "Melungeon connection". For
those that are interested, you can learn more about early voyages at the
following site, including mention of some other familiar names (Collins,
etc.)

http://english-america.com/index.html#top


> [Original Message]
> From: <>
> To: <>
> Date: 9/27/2004 5:52:50 AM
> Subject: [Melungeon] Origin of the Melungeons - 1619, Part 1
>
> 1619 - the Black Mayflower and the Origin of the Melungeons
>
> by Tim Hashaw,
> all rights retained by author
>
>
> The following series of articles describe a chain of events that occurred
in
> the year 1619 that may hold a key to some of the questions of Melungeon
> origins. The articles are taken from two chapter from a manuscript I am
researching
> on the Black Mayflower - the first middle voyage to British North America
in
> 1619.
>
> Records indicate that the arrival of two pirate ships with these Africans
in
> Virginia in late August of 1619 led to a schism within the investment
venture
> known as the London Company that held Virginia's colonial charter. As a
> result of the scandal and ensuing investigation by the Company, the
King's Privy
> Council, and complaints of Spanish ambassador Gondomar de Acuna, a high
ranking
> stockholder in the Company named Robert Rich, lost his ship, the
Treasurer.
> Rich became angry over the confiscation of his ship and then left the
venture
> and, with Sir Ferdinando Gorges and other investors, created a new
venture in
> 1620 known as the New England Council.
>
> This new company received a charter from King James I of England and
> persuaded a group of Pilgrims in England and Leyden, Holland to sail to
New England to
> establish the Plymouth Colony north of Virginia in December of 1620.
> Unbeknownst to King James, these Pilgrims were the very same religious
dissidents he
> was seeking to arrest. Robert Rich was a devout Puritan and had
previously
> sought to send the Pilgrims to populate his colony in Guiana before the
charter
> was withdrawn. Fearful of King James, the Pilgrims were contemplating
> relocating to Virginia, Ireland or other places when they received the
invitation to
> sail to Plymouth.
>
> The research comes to the conclusion that the 1619 arrival of America's
first
> Africans started a chain of events that led to the famous Mayflower
sailing
> from England to Cape Code with the Pilgrim founders in 1620. And records
> suggest that it is possible that some of the ancestors of the Melungeons
were among
> those first Africans who arrived in 1619.
>
> Evidence indicates that John Rolfe and others deliberately obscured
important
> details about the arrival of the first Africans (stolen property) in
order to
> conceal wrong doing by his patron, Robert Rich, earl of Warwick, and his
> friend Samuel Argall, former governor of Virginia. Rich and Argall had
secretly
> set up a black market at Virginia unknown to King James, where they
disposed of
> the booty their pirate ship, Treasurer, had stolen from Spain and
Portugal,
> in violation of the king's treaty.
>
>
> Introduction to this series
>
> In May of 1619 a Spanish/Portuguese frigate named the "St. John the
Baptist"
> left the slave fortress on the Angolan island of Luanda with 350 Africans
> taken captive months earlier in a Portuguese invasion of the Malange
plateau in
> the central Angolan highlands. The "Baptist" headed out into the
Atlantic Ocean
> westward, bound for the port of Vera Cruz, Mexico where the captain,
Manuel
> de Acuna, intended to sell his captives. Manuel de Acuna was related to
the
> Spanish Ambassador Gondomar de Acuna to the English Court of King James
I; a
> coincidence that would lead to serious consequences in the coming months.
>
> Meanwhile, at the same time on the American side of the Atlantic Ocean,
two
> pirate ships manned with English and Dutch soldiers met near Cuba and
decided
> to join together to hunt for treasurer-laden Spanish and Portuguese
merchant
> ships in the West Indies. One of the corsairs was named the White Lion
and the
> other was called the Treasurer. The captain and owner of the White Lion
was
> John Colyn Jope, an Englishman who carried a Dutch letter of Marque from
Prince
> Maurice of Nassau empowering him to seize Portuguese and Spanish merchant
> ships. The captain of the Treasurer was Daniel Elfrith who was in the
employ of
> the ship's English co-owners, Samuel Argall, the English governor of the
> Virginia colony, and Robert Rich, 2nd earl of Warwick, nicknamed the
'King of the
> Privateers.' The ship Treasurer had no Marque and was operating as a
pirate
> under the orders of Argall and Rich in open violation of England's treaty
with
> Spain, and against King James' approval.
>
> As they continued their hunt for treasurer ships about the middle of
July,
> the Spanish/Portuguese slave ship "the Baptist" had crossed the Atlantic
and was
> sailing between Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula enroute to Vera Cruz when
she
> cross the path of the two pirates ships.
>
> What followed was an experience that made the voyage of the later
Mayflower
> mild in comparison.
>
> A running sea battle ensued during a storm, possibly a hurricane. Then
on
> July 15, 1619, the Spanish/Portuguese crew of the "St. John the Baptist"
> surrendered to the pirates after serious damage left her without a mast
and most of
> her sails. The pirates of the White Lion and the Treasurer boarded the
slave
> ship, selected the healthiest Africans and then sailed away, leaving the
> remaining Portuguese crew and their African captives on the badly damaged
slave
> frigate.
>
> Weeks later, near the end of August, the corsair, White Lion, arrived
first
> in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia with her share of the stolen Africans to
trade.
> Passing Point Comfort, she sailed up the James River and traded "20 and
odd"
> Africans to the two wealthiest Virginians; new governor George Yeardley,
and Cape
> merchant Abraham Piersey who welcomed the ship at Jamestown. These were
the
> first Africans to arrive in British North America.
>
> A few days later, the second pirate, the ship Treasurer, arrived in the
> Chesapeake and stopped at the English stockade of Point Comfort at the
mouth of the
> James River before sending word to Jamestown for permission to trade her
> share of the stolen Africans in Jamestown as had her partner, the White
Lion, just
> a few days earlier.
>
> However, unlike he had with the White Lion, Gov. Yeardley denied the
> Treasurer's request to pass, and he chose three men; Colony secretary
John Rolfe
> (widowed husband of Pocahontas, a merchant named William Ewens (aka
"Evans") and
> Lt. William Pierce (commander of the Jamestown militia and new
father-in-law of
> John Rolfe) to sail to Point Comfort some 50 miles upriver and meet the
ship
> Treasurer.
>
> According to a letter written by Rolfe, the Treasurer mysteriously
departed
> before the three men arrived at Point Comfort on their mission. She had
set
> sail for the Bermuda Islands where she arrived badly banged up to unload
her
> share of the African captives from the Portuguese slaver. One of these
Africans
> was John Pedro who would be sent first to Plymouth and later to Virginia
where
> he would re-unite with John Geaween.
>
> But curiously, some of the Virginia planters sent by Yeardley to meet the
> Treasurer on the day she arrived, soon had in their possession, certain
African
> servants. It would be many years before another large African cargo
would be
> delivered; so the question, where did these planters get these Africans?
>
> A few days after the Treasurer left for Bermuda, one of Rolfe's two
> companions on the mission, William Ewens, a London merchant who had come
to Virginia to
> start his plantation, petitioned for 400 acres of land on the basis of
eight
> headrights: settlers who paid the passage of new servants received 1
headright
> for each servant. Each headright granted the settler 50 acres.
> Coincidentally, Ewens/Evans' new land at Tappahana was next door to the
plantations of his
> companions John Rolfe and William Pierce and Pierce soon was found in
> possession of an African servant. Not long after the White Lion and the
Treasurer
> departed, William Ewens/Evans had several new servants clearing land for
tobacco
> on his brand new plantation.
>
> Flash forward from 1619 to some 20 years later. In 1641, an African
named
> John Geaween, earlier freed by the same William Ewens/Evans, petitions
Virginia
> for the freedom of a young son he had by a black woman named Margaret
Cornish
> who was a slave on the neighboring plantation of Robert Sheppard. (The
1624
> census that was taken after the great Indian attack against the Virginia
colony
> showed one black woman named simply "Margrett" in the Warwick Squeak
> settlement.)
>
> Some years after winning the release of his boy, a young African man
named
> Mihill Gowen, while a servant on the plantation of Christopher Stafford,
has a
> son by a slave woman named Prossa; an Angolan woman. Christopher
Stafford dies
> and his estate goes to his sister, who soon frees Mihill Gowen and his
son
> William, but not the child's mother.
>
> Mihill Gowen, a free man of color, then acquires land and becomes a
Virginia
> planter. Some researchers have pointed to this Mihill Gowen as the
possible
> ancestor of the numerous mixed Gowens/Goins etc, of the Melungeons and
other
> 'fpc' communities.
>
> Could Melungeon origin stories of "Portuguese" and "pirates" date back to
the
> Jamestown events of 1619, one year before the Mayflower? Angola was a
colony
> of Portuguese. Their Portuguese ship was attacked by pirates. The
Kimbundu
> speaking Angolans being sent to other American settlements used a word
> "malungu" (meaning, "those who came across on the same ship from the same
homeland")
> to describe Angolan migrants in America. The word passed into the
Portuguese
> language as "melungo."
>
>
>
> Background and Notes
>
> 1. For background on John Geaween and Mihill Gowen, see: "Gowen" at <A
HREF="http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Gibson_Gowen.htm">;
> http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Gibson_Gowen.htm</A>;
>
> 2. For background on Margaret Cornish see: "Cornish" at
> <A
HREF="http://www.freeafricanamericans.com/Church_Cotanch.htm">http://www.fre
eafricanamericans.com/Church_Cotanch.htm</A>
>
> 3. For Mihill Gowen as possible ancestor of Melungeon Goins see:
TENNESSEE
> ANTHROPLOGIST VOL:IV,NUMBER1 1979, THE GRAYSVILLE MELUNGEONS
> (A TRI-RACIAL PEOPLE IN LOWER EAST TENNESSEE ) By Raymond Evans
>
> 4. For background on the Portuguese invasion of Malange, Angola etc,
see:
> <A
HREF="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gowenrf/melun.htm">http://fre
epages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gowenrf/melun.htm</A>
> or
> <A
HREF="http://www.eclectica.org/v5n3/hashaw.html">http://www.eclectica.org/v5
n3/hashaw.html</A>
> or
> <A
HREF="http://www.multiracial.com/readers/hashaw.html">http://www.multiracial
.com/readers/hashaw.html</A>
>
> 5. For name of "Margrett" at Warwick Squeak in 1624 Virginia census see:
<A HREF="http://www.runningdeerslonghouse.com/webdoc38.htm">;
> http://www.runningdeerslonghouse.com/webdoc38.htm</A>;
>
> 6. Notes on John Geaween in addition to records cited by Paul Heinegg:
I
> received an email from John Thornton, professor of Miller University,
> Millersville, Pa and Linda Heywood, professor of Howard University, who
are researching
> for an upcoming book on the early 17th century African slave trade in
America.
> Their records search indicates that John Geaween, "managed to buy his
> children out of slavery in 1641 from Sheppard, and then shows up in Evans
inventory
> in 1643 for a patent in James City. He then shows up again in Lancaster
County
> in 1653 on the patent claim of Denis Conniers. This land is patented
right
> where John Pedro now is living. He already owns land and had his mark on
trees
> in 1650, and assigned land to Brocas, Conniers neighbor."
>
> (th - Note: John Pedro was an African and devout Catholic, went from
Bermuda
> to Massachusetts in 1622, and arrived not long after in Virginia.)
>
> 7. Notes on Prossa, the mother of Mihill Gowen's son, Thornton and
Heywood
> write, "We noted that Mihil Gowan is connected to a woman that Heinegg
> idenifies as "Prossa," one of Stafford's slaves. She turns up in 1644 on
another
> inventory as "Pallassa": , "one negroe man called Anthonio at 2700 lb
tobacco, one
> negroe [woe?]man called Mickaell at 2700 lbs, one negroe woman
Couchanello,
> 2500 lbs, one negroe woman Pallassa 2500 lbs, one negroe girle Mary 4
years old
> 0700 lbs, one negore called Eliz: 3 yeares old 0400 lbs, one negroe boy
one
> yeare old 0400 lbs, one negroe boy 2 weekes old 0200 lbs" [York County,
> (Virginia) County Deeds, Orders, Wills 2, 1645-49, pp. 185-6, "An
Invenory of the
> estate of Wm. Stafford...at Cheescrake in possession of John Gleverius, 3
March
> 1644,"]
>
> "It happens there is a Palassa/Palasse/Pallas in New Amsterdam also at
the
> same time, and her origin is unmistakable, since she is listed in the
Marriage
> Register as Palassa van Angola. I think that Palasa is a Kimbundu name,
at
> least I know it isn't Kikongo but has a Kimbundu ring to it.- John
Thornton."
>
> 8. Regarding the Jamestown plantation William Ewens/Evans began in 1619:
>
> Surry County, Va. records show that William Evans who was John Geaween's
> master in 1641 patented 400 acres in Sept 15, 1619 (two weeks after the
arrival of
> the White Lion) based on headrights. Four Africans are named as attached
to
> Evans household at a early time: John "Grasheare", "Mathew," "Michael"
and
> "Katherine" as calculated by the ages of the children of Michael and
Katherine.
> John "Grasheare" is a variant spelling of John "Geaween."
>
> The documentation comes from the history of Evans' estates cited when his
> widow sold his estate in 1659. John Geaween could have appeared on
Evans'
> Virginia Tappahana plantation on Sept 15, 1619, not long after the White
Lion and
> the Treasurer arrived in Virginia. Evans' original patent in Sept 15,
1619
> implies he was supplying his plantation with servants from recent ships
docking
> in Jamestown.
>
> William Ewens or Evans, master of John Geaween, was a London merchant who
> owned the ship "Supply" which he leased to the Virginia Colony (at the
least) for
> the year 1620 (to Richard Berkeley).
>
> "Surry County Land Records:
>
> Jan 6, 1621/22 VPB 1 p904 WILLIAM EWEN 1100acrs James City County 7
>
> 8 Jul 1648 VPB 2 p143 William Ewen, Merchant 1400a James City Co.5
>
> 15 Sep 1619 WILLIAM EWEN 400a 120
>
> 30 Sep 1643 VPB 1 p904 William EWINS, hd of Up.Chi 1100a James City County
>
> Source: "William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 9,
No.
> 3.(Jan., 1901), pp. 139-144.WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGEQUARTERLY HISTORICAL
> MAGAZINE VOL. IX. JANUARY, 1901. NO. 8 PATENTS ISSUED DURING THE REGAL
> GOVERNMENT.(Continued from Vol. IX., pages 67 to 74).
>
> See also: Thomas Jefferson Papers
> Records of the Virginia Company
> Table of Contents for Volume III
> Kingsbury: CXXXII 200 Charter Party between Richard Berkeley and
Associates
> and William Ewins, for the Ship "Supply". August 31, 1620.
>
> RECORDS OF SURRY COUNTY CONCERNING THE SALE OF THE ESTATE OF WILLIAM
EVANS:
>
> Surry County Historical Society and Museum: "In the first book of the
> Virginia Land Office [as transcribed in 1683 by the Clerk, EDWARD
HARRISON], WILLIAM
> EWINS obtained an 1100 acre patent for land in then James Citty County
dated
> 30 September 1643 in Patent Book 1, pp. 904-905.
>
> part A - 400 acres Tappahannah Territory patented 15 September 1619 by
> WILLIAM EWEN
>
> part B - 1,000 acres Tappahannah Territory patented January 1621/22 by
> WILLIAM EWEN.
>
> part C - 1,400 acres James Citty County in Patent Book 2, p. 143 dated 8
July
> 1648 by WILLIAM EWEN, Merchant.
>
> part D - 1,400 acres Surry County in Patent Book 7, p. 717 dated 25 April
> 1689 by Mrs. ALICE STANFORD, Widow
>
> part C - Patent Book 2, p. 143, 8th. of July 1648, Sr WM. BERKELEY Knt
unto
> WILLIAM EWEN Merchant
>
> Library of Virginia Microfilm Reel #113; Surry Deeds, Wills, &c.
(1652-1673)
>
> "These Presents Testifie that I WM. BATT have sould and delivered unto
JNO.
> BISHOPP one Cowe being Red mked. wth fower markes? in each Eare (wch.
cowe
> formerly did belong unto WM. EWEN) for a Certain Consideration allreadye
recd. for
> the use of the sd. WM. EWEN. Witts. my hand this 20 of Feb. Anno Domini
> 1647/48. Signed WILL. BATTS. Signed and delivered in the presence of us
JNO.
> JENNINGS, WM. LEA. Recordatr. prim_ Marty 1652/53. Teste me ROBT.
STANTON"
>
> "Mrs. MARY EWEN by vertue of a Procuration or Letter of Attorney Dated
the
> 20th of June 1659 hath given Power and authority to Mr. FRANCIS NEWTON or
his
> Substitutes to take into his hands and Possession the Plantation of the
said
> Mrs. EWEN in Virginia with all things thereon and thereunto belonging as
by the
> said Procuration more largely may appr. And for as much as the said FRA.
NEWTON
> by vertue of the Clause of Substitution has made and ordered his well
beloved
> brother NICHOLAS NEWTON (since deceased) and RICHARD HOPKINS his lawfull
> Attorneys to execute his said authority as by an instrument to that
purpose Dated
> 30th. June 1659 may app. Now Know ye that I the said RICHARD HOPKINS by
vertue
> of the said Authority to have received into my possession these things
> hereafter menconed and thereunto Sett my hand Seale the 6th. day of
December 1659"
>
> By this time John Geaween was free and had left the Evans plantation.
>
> "The Plantacon of the said Mrs. MARY EWEN with her right and tytle to
> foureteene hundred Acres of Land thereunto belonging wth. the Pattent
thereof
>
> MICHAELL A negroe man
> KATHERINE A negroe woman
> RABECCA? about 20 yeares old}
> FRANCIS about [18 or 10] yeares old}
> AMOS about [9 or 7] yeares old}
> SUSANNA about [5] yeares old} {the Children of the sd. MICHLL: &
KATHERINE
> In all seaven negroes
> SAMUELL MAYSANT an English Servt. that hath about 4 yeares to Serve
>
> Recorded the first May 1660] Sept 2003 Newsletter Surry County Virginia
> Historical Society and Museum."
>
> 9. January 1620 letter from John Rolfe to Virginia Company president
Edwin
> Sandys in London in which he names William Evans as his companion on the
mission
> to meet the ship Treasurer. "About the latter end of August, a Dutch
man of
> Warr of the burden of 160 tons arrived at Point Comfort, the Comandor's
name
> was Capt. Jope, his Pilot for the West Indies one Mr. Marmaduke an
Englishman.
> They mett with the 'Treasurer' in the West Indies and determined to hold
> consort shipp hetherward,but in their passage lost one the other. He
brought not
> anything but 20 and odd Negroes, which the Governor and Cape Merchant
bought
> for victualle [whereof he was in greate need as he pretended] at the best
and
> easyest rate they could. He hadd a lardge and ample Comyssion from his
> Excellency to range and to take purchase in the West Indies."...Three or
4 days after
> (Jope) the Treasurer arrived. At his arrivall he sent word presently to
the
> Governor to know his pleasure, who wrote to him, and did request myself,
> Leiftenante Peace and Mr. Ewens to goe downe to him, to desyre him to
come up to
> James City. But before we gott downe he hadd sett saile and was gone out
of the
> Bay. The occasion hereof happened by the unfriendly dealing of the
inhabitants
> of Keqnoughton, for he was in greate want of victualle, wherewith they
would
> not relieve him nor his Company upon any termes." [From the "Record of
the
> Virginia Company of London" Susan Myra Kingsbury, editor.]
>
>
> End Introduction Part 1
>
> by Tim Hashaw
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ==== Melungeon Mailing List ====
> The MELUNGEON LIST HOMEPAGE:
> http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~mtnties/melungeon.html


This thread: