The Newtown bee., 1907-11-15

lonial places in fact retained and still known by the names given them in Cos lonial days. dating back more than two hundred years. There Is claremont. once a great plantation of l2.50o acres and extending along the river front for seven miles. There Is Lower Brandon one of the fine old Colonia. places of the South. The manor house Is still in excellent preservation and filled with historic mementoes and walls adorned with paintings of by gone gen- erations. Upper Brandon is still q fine plantation with n fine house In good repair. Shirley s another fine old place on the river. As far back as lG52 1t was owned by one Edward Hill. an an- cestor of the present owners. Then there is -Four Mile Tree" large es- tate which has been handed down to the descendants of one to whom the grant was given in 1887. But. these instances mentioned. are exceptions to the general rule, and where there is one such case. there are others. though still bearing the original name. have been depleted through abandonment by the owners or taken for taxes. or sold in detached portions as opportunity has offered.
 Is Virginia s history being duplicat- ed by similar conditions existing in New England? The line of thought l dropped into when took up my pen for this letter has led me on further than 1 had intended it should. Not interest ing to the little tots" but perhaps will do for High school girls and boys. Now few words about historic James town, learned by recent visit. We may, and do, learn much by study, but if one can, in connection with study. come in personal contact with histori- cal places, it intensfes the interest. Every child in Newtown High school has learned. ere this, that Jamestown was settled in 1907 and that the set tiers were the Virginia Company of London, numbering one hundred and fifty men, who came over there in ships sent out to found colony in America, and that they entered the Chesapeake Bay, and after seventeen days of exploration they chose on May 13, 1907 what became the site of James, town. They know, too, that the h. dians were source of constant danger, that a large number of adventurers died of exposure and starvation, and that at the end of one year and half the only one remaining to exercise au- thority was Captain John Smith, They know too, that while Capt Smith was on an expedition up the Chickahominy river he was captured by the Indians, taken before their King Powhatan, con- demned by him to death, and saved by the intervention of Pocahontas, the kings daughter. Here too, in 1919, the first legislative body on this continent assembled and met in the little church and it remained the seat of govern ment until 1705, when it was removed to Williamsburg. What there was of Jamestown was destroyed in Bacon's rebellion in 1876, though it remained the seat of government until 1705 when it was removed to Williamsburg. The land upon which the greater part of Jamestown was situated is now covered by the waters of the James river and what was in the early days a penin- sular, is now Jamestown Island, being cut off from the mainland by a small stream called the Back river.
 The old brick tower of the First church built in America" is still stand ing, and is of great interest. Back of that is an old grave yard with num- Der of interesting tombs. On site giv- en the United States Government for a monument, stands shaft one hun dred feet high modelled after the Wash ington monument at Washington, with five tablets with suitable inscriptions.
 Here too, Lord Cornwallis camped on July 4, 1781 as he was retreating down the river and on the 9th crossed the river and proceeded to Portsm outh. In 1861 a Confederate fort was built under the orders of Gen Robert E. Lee, the remnants of which still remain, as relic of the Host Cause"
 May it not with safety be said, truly the site of old Jamestown in Virginia is sacred ground? Worthy is it to be visited by generations as they succeed each other, so long as the American Republic shall endure. It is visiting such historic places, that one can get, in some faint measure, knowledge ( and belief of the worth of the great heritage that has come down from for mer generations to us, and also make us call to mind the fact "That other