Friday, August 5, 2011

The First Jones to Virginia

It was May, 1609, that nine ships left the coast of England. They contained 500 men, women, and children who were to "relieve" the new colony planted at Jamestown. Six of the ships left London, and three ships left from Plymouth, all with great hope and expectations. Crossing the Atlantic would have been dangerous enough, but throw in plague, hurricane, ship wreck, and a 40% mortality rate, and you have the ingredients for the "perfect storm".

Only 300 of those who started this crossing arrived at Jamestown, 1609. One of these 300 was "Elizabeth Joones." She is first listed as a "servant of Thomas Dunthorne", and is recorded as arriving to Virginia in the Patience, 1609. [The Patience was one of two small ships constructed in Bermuda to bring the survivors of the Sea Venture which had wreck after the hurricane hit! It actually arrived 9 months later in May 1610, but Cavaliers and Pioneers Vol. I, p. xxix, records her as arriving 1609.] She is listed as "Aged 30" in the Muster list of 1624/25. The age entered was that recorded at the time the muster was taken, so she was born around 1595. [1625 - 30 years] In this muster reported by Hotten, p. 255, a "Sarah Joones aged 5 borne in Virginia" follows her name in the Muster of Thomas Dunthorne. So around 1620 she was having children. To be listed in the Muster of 1624/25 also means that she survived the Indians attacks of 1622! She is listed as an "Ancient Planter" and the wife of "Giles Jones, Gent." being within the "Island of Point Comfort, 16 Oct. 1628. (CP, p. 10)

As best as I have been able to uncover, she married before 1637, a second husband named Henry Southwell (d. 1637), and married Richard Popeley before 1638. So she at least lived to the full age of 60 years or more. She certainly had a lot of stories to tell!

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