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Nathaniel Powell (1587 March 22, 1622) was an English-born early American colonist, cartographer, military leader, and politician who served briefly as the acting governor of the
colony of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776.
The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...
for a ten-day period in 1619. Powell's additional service in colonial Virginia included as president of the Virginia Governor's Council and as a delegate to the first session of the Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...
. He contributed to John Smith's sixth chapter of The Generall Historie of Virginia and helped make the first map of Virginia.
Early life
Powell was born in 1587, inSurrey
Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England and spent much of his early life as a planter. He served as an officer in the British Army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, where he attained the rank of captain. He departed England aboard the ''Susan Constant'' on December 19, 1606 and arrived to Jamestown, Virginia
The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent British colonization of the Americas, English settlement in the Americas. It was located on the northeast bank of the James River, about southwest of present-day Willia ...
in 1607.
Virginia colonist
After arriving in Virginia in April 1607 as one of the original settlers, Powell joined Captain Smith andChristopher Newport
Christopher Newport ( – ) was an English seaman and privateer. During the war with Spain Newport was one of the most successful ' Elizabethan Sea Dogs' to venture to the Spanish Main, making large profits.
Newport is best known as the c ...
in their explorations of the York River and Chesapeake Bay, including meeting with Powhatan
Powhatan people () are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who belong to member tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, or Tsenacommacah. They are Algonquian peoples whose historic territories were in eastern Virginia.
Their Powh ...
in February 1608. During this period, Powell mapped the bay and surrounding rivers.
Powell was highly active in the political and military affairs of the colony. In 1608, he was an investor in the Virginia Company. He contributed to John Smith's ''History of Virginia'' and helped make the first map of Virginia. In 1609-1610, Powell remained in Jamestown during the Starving Time, one of the deadliest periods in the colony’s history. In 1609, Powell and Anas Todkill took part in an unsuccessful expedition to locate surviving colonists of the Roanoke Colony
The Roanoke Colony ( ) refers to two attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The first colony was established at Roanoke Island in 1585 as a military outpost, and was evacuated in 1586. ...
, at the personal request of governor Thomas Gates.
In June 1610, Powell was present at the reading of the First Virginia Charter in Jamestown. Powell was also an attendee at the wedding of Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, also known as Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe; 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. S ...
and John Rolfe
John Rolfe ( – March 1622) was an English explorer, farmer and merchant. He is best known for being the husband of Pocahontas and the first settler in the colony of Virginia to successfully cultivate a tobacco crop for export.
He played a ...
in 1614.
In October 1617, Governor Samuel Argall commissioned Powell as Sergeant-Major General to Francis West, which was the highest military office in the colony at the time, akin to a modern-day general. Shortly thereafter, Powell served as deputy governor of Virginia. From April 9 to April 19, 1619, Powell succeeded departing governor Argall to serve as acting governor of Virginia Colony before the arrival of George Yeardley
Sir George Yeardley () was a Planter class, planter and colonial governor of the colony of Virginia. He was also among the first slaveowners in Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ...
. Powell resided in Charles City during this period.
During his ten day tenure as acting governor, Powell oversaw the arrival of fifty emigrants, including Captain John Warde, and Reverend Thomas Bargrave, who would form a settlement known as Ward's Creek.
From 1619 until 1622, Powell served as a member of the Virginia Governor's Council, including as president due to his tenure.
In July 1619, Powell served as a delegate to the first session of the House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...
- the first representative legislative body in British America. In January 1620, Powell was among the signatories of a letter to Virginia Company officials about the importance of tobacco in the economy of the Virginia Colony.
Powell was a prominent landowner, owning a 600-acre estate known as the Powellbrooke Plantation.
Death
During the Jamestown massacre, on March 22, 1622, Powell and his pregnant wife were killed by the Powhatan Confederacy chief Opechancanough. He was 34 or 35 years old.
Legacy
After his murder, John Smith wrote of Powell that he was "one of the first planters, a valiant soldier, and not any in the country better known amongst them". Powell is the namesake of Powell's Creek in Prince George County, Virginia. The site of Powell's plantation is now part of the James River National Wildlife Refuge. A plaque in honor of Powell was erected at the rebuilt Jamestown Church by the Society of Colonial Dames, and a silver plate in honor of Powell was dedicated by theMartin's Brandon Church
Martin's Brandon Church, also known as Brandon Church and as Martin's Brandon Episcopal Church, is a historic ECUSA, Episcopal church (building), church located at 18706 Virginia State Route 10, James River Drive in Burrowsville, Virginia. Mar ...
in 1857.
Powell is included as a character in Marilyn Clay's 2013 historical fiction novel, ''Deceptions''. His map of Virginia is in the permanent collection of the British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
in London. "Nathaniel Powell Road" in Williamsburg is named for Powell.
Works
* '' The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles,'' 1624. ''(listed as co-author of chapter six)''References