page_title: John Smith (explorer)
section_title: John Smith Monument, New Hampshire
hierarchical_section_title: John Smith (explorer) / Legacy / John Smith Monument, New Hampshire
caption_attribution_description: English: Captain John Smith's Monument, Star Island, Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire; from a c. 1914 postcard. It was built in 1864 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Smith's visit to what he named Smith's Isles, and in subsequent years argued would make a perfect place to establish a colony devoted to fishing.
context_page_description: John Smith was an English soldier, explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author. He played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America in the early 17th century. He was a leader of the Virginia Colony between September 1608 and August 1609, and he led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, during which he became the first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area. Later, he explored and mapped the coast of New England. He was knighted for his services to Sigismund Báthory, Prince of Transylvania, and his friend Mózes Székely.
  Jamestown was established in 1607, and Smith trained the first settlers to farm and work, thus saving the colony from early devastation. He publicly stated, "He that will not work, shall not eat", alluding to 2 Thessalonians 3:10. Harsh weather, lack of food and water, the surrounding swampy wilderness, and attacks from Native Americans almost destroyed the colony. With Smith's leadership, however, Jamestown survived and eventually flourished.
context_section_description: The Captain John Smith Monument currently lies in disrepair off the coast of New Hampshire on Star Island, part of the Isles of Shoals. The original monument was built in 1864 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Smith's visit to what he named Smith's Isles. It was a series of square granite slabs atop one another, with a small granite pillar at the top. (See the postcard to the right.) The pillar featured three carved faces, representing the severed heads of three Turks that Smith lopped off in combat during his stint as a soldier in Transylvania.
  In 1914, the New Hampshire Society of Colonial Wars partially restored and rededicated the monument for the 300th anniversary celebration of his visit. The monument had weathered so badly in the harsh coastal winters that the inscription in the granite had worn away.
caption: Capt. John Smith Monument as it appeared c. 1914, Isles of Shoals
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