The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-06-19
A Revere Of
Old Jamestown
By DWIGHT NORWOOD

~S ~
the United States. jamestown and
Plymouth rock. the former being the
more important from its age. | was
curious to see 1t and. leaving the boat.
remained there long enough to lose
myself In a reverie concerning 1t.
There Is nothing there today to
dream about unless 1t be the tower Of
the church built by the Inhabitants Of
the settlement who went there a little
over 300 years ago. No more uninter-
esting spot in itself exists in America.
1t Is an open iat space on the north
east bank Of the river. whose yellow
waters have eaten away a considera-
bic part OF the site Of the town.
And now for my dream.
The report Of a gun fred out on the
bosom Of the yellow waters. look
ed and saw a miniature ship very
high In the stern and forward. much
ornamented and the sail on the main
mast bearing the arms Of England.
From the shore a boat was about to
put out bearing n huge cask. l got
aboard and was pulled to the ship.
whats going on" l asked Of n
Of the carsmen. who. by the bye, all
wore doublets with broad collar. knee
breeches and hose.
sale Of redemptiOners." was the re-
ply.
When We boarded the vessel. the
Royal James. rum was served from
the cask. and the sale commenced.
There were twenty men and four wo-
men to be sold to whOmsoever would
pay their passage money from Eng
land. with a handsome bonus to the
person who had advanced the funds.
They were to be bound to their pur-
chaser till they had worked out the
amount he had paid and until then
were held as redemptioners, which
meant a limited period of slavery.
Several men were sold for sums
ranging from ESQ to f1OO. though the
amount was paid in tobacco. All the
women were sold for wives with their
consent There was n damsel not
twenty years old who was so comely
that I approached and asked her what
had induced her to come out to 90
melancholy a place as jamestown.
please SIR" she replied, 4 come
from bonnie Scotland. My mother
auld Roderick MacTavish and shut me
up. But | got out. and q man With
gold a-plenty sent me out as a redemp-
toner. He must be paid eco for my
passage and a the profit there u
in me-"
And If ! pay the eco will you mar
~ me?"
THAT | WILL" replied the girl. 'be-
cause you're so much better than old
ROderick MacTavish, and I'll ma have
to work out the money owing for
sending me here"
And so l paid the eco in tobacco.
which went back to England in tho
ship. and the girl was carried ashore
with me On landing We went up q
beaten path leading to the church. l
found the parson. and We were mar
ried.
This was when Captain John Smith
was indefatigable In keeping the colo
ny together and supplying our wants.
but after a time he left u to make
explorations Of the coast and then b
90 t England. Our men became dis
couraged and would not work. Food
must be got BY bunting Or uiling the
earth. and the people would do neither.
So hunger and sickness came upon u.
and We diminished rapidly. Some went
back to England. and some. leaving
jamestown. went back from the river
into the country.
When | saw that jamestown WA
doomed. taking my Scotch wife with
me. I went back from tho river into
the interior and. settling myself on
4 piece Of land. built q house and
raised tobacco. prospered. and. other
families settling near me. In dime W
became u community. Though my
wife and l grew old. children grew
up after us to be men and women.
and the country about US lost tn prim-
tive loneliness. But the river was a.
ways the same. At times l vas obliged
to 60 to 1t for the purpose Of shipping
my tobacco. and 1t always gave me tho
blues.
But we on the peninsula between
the river and the bay were a merry lot,
meeting oftentimes at each others
plantation. where our children danced
and feasted. for we were not the mot.
ley lot we were when we settled ut
Jamestown. Some proud families in
England who had met with reversos.
or younger sons. also the Cavaliers who
had been beaten by Oliver Cromwell.
came ove and settled among US. We
gave them welcome and a helping hand.
and In time they became. like our
selves. successful planters.
This was my reverie as l sat on the
bank Of the James river looking at the
melancholy scene about me. Yet it
was 20 creation, but what I had read
N the annals Of my family. My flrst
ancestor in America was a citizen Of
jamestown and he married a redemp-
toner of Scotch nativity. They be-