John Rolfe

John Rolfe is a very overlooked historical figure remembered primarily as the husband of Pocahontas, yet he was so much more than that! Rolfe was an early adventurer of the British Colony of Virginia. He served as secretary and recorder general of Virginia (1614–1619) and as a member of the governor's Council (1614–1622). Rolfe was the first to cultivate marketable tobacco in Virginia, which gave the colony its first profitable commodity. John overcame personal tragedy, saved the colony of Virginia on numerous occasions and left behind an industry still going strong today. One could say America, as we know it today, would not exist if not for John Rolfe. John Rolfe is believed to have been born about 1585 in Norfolk, England. His exact parentage is still not known, he had one confirmed sibling, younger brother Henry Rolfe, who was an investor of the Virginia Company. This relationship has been proven and is without doubt! Many OLD SOURCES identify him as the son of John Rolfe and Dorothy (Dorothea) Mason Rolfe, of Heacham, Norfolk, England and the twin brother of Eustace Rolfe, born 6 May 1585, however, this is now known to be INCORRECT. Records do not support this relationship. John Rolfe (the father) died in 1595, and Dorothy Rolfe remarried to Robert Redmayn (Redmaine). None of the various wills/records associated with her, her 2nd husband, or their daughter ever mention John or Henry Rolfe. Heacham parish records do not mention John's brother, Henry Rolfe, at all. Dorothy Redmayn died in 1645 but records indicate that Thomas Rolfe's grandmother (the mother of John and Henry) was still alive in 1645 after Dorothy Mason Rolfe Redmayn had died. John Rolfe and Dorothy Mason Rolfe did have twin sons named John and Eustace, nevertheless, it is now known that John Rolfe of Virginia was not one of those sons. There were multiple Rolfe families in and around Norfolk, England at the time. In 1608 John Rolfe married Sarah Hacker and the couple made the adventurous decision to immigrate to the brand-new colony of Virginia. They sailed from Plymouth on June 2, 1609, aboard the Sea Venture, flagship of the Third Supply. They were in the company of many notable people: Admiral George Somers, Sir Thomas Gates, Capt. Christopher Newport, Capt. William Pierce, Samuel Jordan, Rev. Richard Bucke, William Strachey, and Native Americans Namontack and Machumps, only to name a few. Encountering a hurricane at sea, on July 25, 1609, the Sea Venture was shipwrecked on the island of Bermuda. 150 humans and a dog made it safely ashore. The rest of the world thought they were all lost at sea. Working together the survivors salvaged what they could from the Sea Venture and began building new vessels to allow them to continue their journey. John and Sarah Rolfe welcomed a baby girl in February 1610. They named her Bermuda after the group of islands on which they were stranded. On February 11th little Bermuda was christened, Captain Christopher Newport and William Strachey serve as witnesses. Strachey became Bermuda's godfather. Tragically baby Bermuda did not live long, and Sarah Rolfe died soon thereafter. John Rolfed buried his wife and child in the sands of Somers Island. The remaining Sea Venture survivors boarded the vessels they had built, the Deliverance, and the Patience, on 10 May 1610, and finally arrived in Jamestown on May 24. Almost a year after they left England. They found Jamestown in dire straits. Without the supplies carried aboard the Sea Venture, Jamestown was starving, only 60 colonists remained alive. Luckily De La Warr arrived right after the shipwreck survivors. The colonists got busy insuring their own immediate survival, fortifying their location against Indian attack, growing food, clearing land and finding an income for the colony. The Virginia Company was after all a business, a 'colonial venture'. Colonists tried silk making, glassmaking, lumber, sassafras, pitch and tar, and soap ashes. John Rolfe applied himself to growing tobacco. Early attempts at growing native tobacco were not palatable but Rolfe saw the potential for profit and did not give up. With seeds from Trinidad, Rolfe developed a sweeter strain he named "Orinoco". Exportation of this sweeter tobacco began in 1612 and is credited with turning the Virginia Colony into a profitable venture. Tobacco became such a vital part of the colonial economy that settlers were required to grow it and could be indentured if they did not. Tobacco leaves were even used as currency. It was John Rolfe's determination and foresight that made this possible. John Rolfe became a member of the Governor's Council, as well as secretary and recorder general of Virginia in 1614. Indian conflicts were ongoing, Capt Argall kidnapped Powhatan's favorite daughter Pocahontas in 1613 and held her at Jamestown, intending to use her as leverage for the return of English prisoners. During her yearlong imprisonment Pocahontas converted to Christianity, took the English name Rebecca and met a devout young widower John Rolfe. Machumps, the maternal uncle of Pocahontas knew Rolfe from the Sea Venture shipwreck and likely played a role in introducing them. After much negotiation with Powhatan, and permission from Governor Dale, in April 1614 John Rolfe and Pocahontas were married. This was not simply the romantic union movies want us to believe. All parties involved knew the importance of this union. Their marriage brought an end to the First Anglo American War, allowing for several years of much needed peace for both the English colonists and the Powhatan Indians. Without this peace the colony at Jamestown may have ended right then. Pocahontas saw it as a way to help her people and learn more about the English world that was quickly overtaking her own. Rolfe saw it as a way to help the English, bring peace, have assistance growing his tobacco (Pocahontas was well versed in her peoples growing practices) and save her soul. In his marriage request, he made it plain it was not just for 'carnal desires.' Pocahontas' uncle Opechancanough, who had stood witness to the event, had a brass plaque commemorating the peace and their marriage mounted to a tree on what became Rolfe's Varina Plantation. Pocahontas and John saved the colony by bring peace, Rolfe saved the colony by creating the cash crop of tobacco. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were the rockstars of their time, much in demand. John and Rebecca welcomed a son, Thomas in January 1615. On June 2, 1616, the Virginia Company sent the young family on a promotional tour of England, eager to show off their young stars: their tame Indian Princess, the rich Tobacco visionary and the first child of mixed blood born in the colony. They were accompanied by Governor Sir Thomas Dale and 11 additional Powhatan Indians, including Tomocomo, the husband of Matachanna, sister of Pocahontas. Ironically the Captain of their ship was Argall, the very same man who kidnapped Pocahontas in 1613. After a whirlwind tour, meeting John's family, meeting the King, the Rolfe party prepared to return home to Virginia. Unfortunately, England was rife with sickness, Bloody Flux, Tuberculosis, Cholera, and the Powhatan People were more susceptible than others. Pocahontas became gravely ill and died at Gravesend before she could return home. Little Thomas, only 2 years old, was ill as well, it was feared he would not survive a lengthily sea voyage, especially since those that would normally care for him were too ill to do so. After losing his wife, John Rolfe made the hard decision to leave Thomas behind in England with his family. He himself, 31 years old and now a widower for the 2nd time, had to return to Jamestown. Court records confirm that John Rolfe left his son Thomas Rolfe in England as the ward of Sir Lewis Stukely, and records of the Virginia Company verify that John's brother Henry Rolfe, later took over custody of his little nephew. John and Tomocomo returned to Virginia by May 1617, shortly thereafter an epidemic of 'bloody flux' struck the colony and the surrounding Indian communities, brought possibly from England upon their return. Many colonists died, and many more of the Native Americans. John Rolfe threw himself into his plantation and in 1618 approximately 40,000 pounds of his tobacco were shipped to England. At the plantation next to Varina lived Captain William Pierce and his family. Rolf and Pierce had been friends since the shipwreck and in 1619, Rolfe married Pierce's only daughter Jane (Joane). John and Joan Rolfe welcomed daughter Elizabeth Rolfe on January 25, 1620/21. On March 10, 1622, being sick and fearing his death was imminent, John Rolfe wrote his last will and testament. He died sometime before the March 22nd Indian massacre. It is perhaps his death, that save his wife and child, for they most likely went to her parents' home in Jamestown, which was much more fortified than Varina. The Massacre of 1622 left everything in turmoil, John Rolfe's exact day of death is not known, and he could have been buried either at Varina or in Jamestown. Many records of this time period burned when the courthouse burned. John Rolfe is indisputably the father of the tobacco industry in North America, an industry that paid for the building of the Colony of Virginia and financed a goodly portion of the building of America. Tobacco companies still hold a great deal of power in today's economy and a great deal of influence in our culture and way of life. John Rolfe's marriage to Pocahontas bought the colonists time to establish a foothold in Virginia, at a time when they were on the brink of abandoning the whole colony project. John Rolfe survived a shipwreck, overcame the death of two wives and persevered. Without John Rolfe the infant colony of Virginia WOULD NOT HAVE SUCCEEDED. Was John Rolfe the husband of Pocahontas? Most certainly!! But he was so much more than her English arm candy.