Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, Doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief!

The first line of a jump rope rhyme I remember as a child is: “Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief.” It seemed appropriate to open this article because it connects farmers, merchants, lawyers, sailors, a kidnapper, a president, an Indian Chief, and an Indian Princess who became famous for her …

Back From the Future – Part 3 (With John Rolfe and Pocahontas)

I wish to thank my dear friend, retired College Lecturer, and fellow Pocahontas research enthusiast, Christine Dean, for her ongoing updates about happenings in and around her hometown of  Heacham, Norfolk, England.  From her undaunting energy and perseverance, while delving into local legends about Pocahontas and John Rolfe, I am able to bring you new posts …

On This Day: April 5, 1614 – Pocahontas Marries John Rolfe

Article Details:  POCAHONTAS MARRIES JOHN ROLFE Author:  History.com Staff Website Name:  History.com Year Published:  2009 Title:  Pocahontas marries John Rolfe URL:  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pocahontas-marries-john-rolfe On the 403rd Anniversary - The Story of the Marriage of My Paternal 11th Great Grandparents Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, marries English tobacco planter John Rolfe in …

Back From the Future – Part 2

 A Quote from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, June 2014: Christopher Columbus never reached the shores of the North American Continent, but European explorers learned three things from him: there was someplace to go, there was a way to get there, and most importantly, there was a way to get back. Thus began the European exploration of …

From The Future Back . . .

Destination: England's 16th Century Rolfe Family Absent any DeLorean or maverick scientist like Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown, we're headed from the future back to a time before there was this great country known as the United States of America.  But, "Holy Scott!," we're crossing the Atlantic Ocean, departing from 21st Century Jamestown, Virginia, aboard a …

John Rolfe – Just One of My Family’s Immigrants . . .

The Early Modern Period Over the next twenty-eight days, we will be revisiting my 11th paternal great grandfather’s story once again.  It is a story that dates back to 1585--the 585th year of the 2nd millennium, the 85th year of the 16th century, and the 6th year of the 1580s decade.  Although much has been …

John Rolfe Letter to Governor Thomas Dale, 1614

Continuing to further document and understand the lives of our earliest ancestors - emigrants from England to Jamestown, Virginia, I have included below, the 1614 letter  (transcribed and updated to today’s word usage and spellings by me--I made no changes to word choices or punctuation and kept present-day English spellings).  My  11th great-grandfather, John Rolfe, …

America’s First Entrepreneur

A Documentary about Pocahontas and the man who changed her life--Jamestown Virginia's settler, Captain John Rolfe.

May 13, 2017: Jamestown Colony’s 410th Anniversary

Four hundred and ten years ago today (May 13, 1607), one hundred colonists (dispatched from England by the London Company) arrived along the west bank of the James River.  The next day they founded the first permanent English settlement in what is now the Virginia, known as the"James Fort." As I have written in other …

Tobacco Warning From 17th Century (1606)

I find it awesomely amusing and astonishingly amazing that we as a world of people ignore history, despite evidence that had we heeded its details, we could have avoided much pain, suffering, and loss.  And, I say this, despite my lineage back to Pocahontas and her husband, John Thomas Rolfe through the marriage of their granddaughter, …

Revisiting–Johannes Eustacius “John” Rolfe…My 11th Great Grandfather – Part Two (17th Through 20th Centuries)

John and Pocahontas in Kippax: England and Virginia This article picks up on my blog Revisiting–Johannes Eustacius “John” Rolfe…My 11th Great Grandfather, dated May 6, 2015, and my efforts to expand and support Christine Dean’s (history enthusiast), work in Heacham-Norfolk, England–the Rolfe family’s hometown.  For the past 30 years, she has been researching the Rolfes, …

Revisiting–Johannes Eustacius “John” Rolfe…My 11th Great Grandfather

Preserved--The 435-Year-Old John Rolfe Family Bible Christine Dean, 30 year resident of Heacham, England, and I have been corresponding for the past several months, following her interesting comments that added greatly to my two-year-old blog post titled "Johannes Eustacius “John” Rolfe…My 11th Great Grandfather."  It seems that Christine has been gathering information about John Rolfe, Chief …

Our Descendancy–in Red, White and Blue…

America's Red, White and Blue... On June 14, 1777 in Philadelphia,  the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white, in a blue field representing a new constellation.” As to the significance of our flag's …

More Perspectives Into Our Southern Ancestry

Since its founding in 1845, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has been helping its members to research, record, and tell their own unique family stories. The following story was published in the American Ancestor Magazine in April 1986 and lends yet another perspective into my southern ancestry.  I have added some sketches, pictures, maps, …

Railroaded in Colonial Virginia…

THANKFUL THURSDAY...PART 2 King George County, Port Royal, Virginia We are picking up from Part 1 of this post, dated January 30, 2013, in King George County, Virginia, meandering toward our final destination the Centre Hill Mansion Museum to do the annual January 24th Ghost Walk through the house originally built by Colonel Robert Bolling …

Tobacco, Slavery, Earthworms, Honey Bees; Grains, Livestock, Disease…Oh My!

After reading one of my posts, a friend suggested I take a look at the book 1493... by Charles C. Mann. Only in a few pages and I had a rude awakening.  It appeared to me that up to this point I had merely been scratching the surface when describing our family's roots, branches, history, …

Johannes Eustacius “John” Rolfe…My 11th Great Grandfather

Johannes Eustacius "John" Rolfe, Father of John Rolfe, Jr. Who Married Pocahontas Birth: Oct. 17, 1562, Heacham, Norfolk, England Death: Nov. 29, 1594, Heacham,  Norfolk, England (Age 32) Buried:  Dec. 1, 1594, Heacham Church, Heacham, Norfolk, England Norfolk County in which Heacham resides is known for its industry in Lavender. It is thought that settlers …

Captain John Thomas Rolfe II…

My 10th Paternal Great Grandfather Date of Birth: 6 May 1585 in Heacham Hall, Norfolkshire, Watkins Co., England Date of Death: 22 Mar 1622 (killed in Indian Massacre) in Jamestown, Virginia Colony; killed in a massacre  Marriage: 05 Apr 1614 (Age: 28) Jamestown, James, Virginia, USA to Princess Pocahontas Matoaka Rebecca POWHATAN (1595-1617) Children Thomas Powhatan ROLFE (1615-1675) Varina, Henrico County, The American South …

May 11, 2013: 406th Anniversary of America’s First Settlement in Jamestown, VA

1606 Expedition from England to Virginia Coastlines An all-male expedition led by Captain Christopher Newport departed from England in December 1606. Aboard the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery ships, were 105 passengers (one of whom died during the voyage).   Many aboard these ships were upper-class Englishmen. On May 13, 1607, after two weeks of exploration of the Virginia coastline, the …

‘…And That’s the Way They All Became The Brady Bunch’

But, What About the Boling Bunch--How did Dad Get his Middle Name? Ignoring the variations in the family members spelling of the last name, my dad, Frank Burton Boling (84), ever since he was a child, has wondered where his middle name came from.  As most women will tell you, mothers/female family members are generally …