The Virginia Company Story
By Ann Metlay
Aaron Goes to Virginia
Aaron Adams was the young son of Esquire Adams, a wealthy businessman in London. His father heard about the colonies the Spaniards had begun to settle in the Western Indies. He wanted to know more about this land. He wanted to put his money into the Virginia Company.
The Esquire called his son. “Aaron, come in here. I would like to talk with you.”
“Yes, father,” answered Adam, walking into his father’s office.
“Aaron, I hear that the explorer Christopher Newport is sailing to Virginia to see if there is land there which might be worth developing. The Virginia Company wants to find a place where we might have a colony. There we can find gold, fur and other riches. Christopher Newport is going to sail with some men to see if they can start a colony. I want you to go along.
“Oh, yes, Father! I think that is a good idea.”
The next day Aaron went to talk with Christopher Newport. He asked if he could sail with him to the New Land.
“I’d be pleased to have you aboard. You are young and strong. You can help with the sails on the boat. I plan to take some men and supplies over in about three weeks. You will need to pack. Bring your musket! I hear there are many animals with beautiful furs. We will leave December 20.”
So Aaron climbed aboard the Susan Constant. Newport had three boats. This boat was the biggest. It had tall sails. They stocked it with food. They also put in the things they would use for finding gold and fur.
The boat was crowded. Aaron’s bed was very small. He found it was hard to sleep. The boat went back and forth in the water. Aaron felt sick.
The food tasted terrible. There were bugs and rats in the food. The cook tried to keep these out of the food when he cooked it.The men had to use the sails to move the boat. Some days they could set the sails and the boat moved right toward Virginia. Other days there was no wind and the boat just moved around in circles.
Then sometimes there were terrible storms. There was heavy rain. The men moved barrels to catch the water to drink. The wind blew so hard the men were afraid it would tear the sails. They had to bring the sails down.
Finally they reached Virginia. It took them 144 days. Aaron was so happy to be able to walk on land again. The men knew they had to find a better place to set up their colony. They sailed into the Chesapeake Bay. They found the James River. They sailed up that river.
They had a letter from the king. The letter had directions for the place for their colony. Aaron read the letter to the rest of the men. The letter said they needed a place where they could be safe from the Spanish. They also needed to have a place where the water was deep enough to have their ships.
They looked around. They found a place upstream on the James River. Everyone agreed that this was a fine place.
Aaron said, “Let’s call this new place Jamestown.”
Everyone agreed.
They got their supplies off the three ships. Then Christopher Newport told the men he was going to go back to England and get more men to help them set up their colony. Aaron felt sad when he watched the ships sail away. He wondered if he would ever go back to England.