19 April 2008: Meeting and Luncheon,
Henricus Historical Park, Chester, Virginia

Unlike last summer's heat and humidity, the weather on April 19 was spectacular
 - warm enough with bright sun. Most in attendance traveled about two hours to get to
 Henricus Historical Park, in Chester, Virginia, which celebrates
 the early Henricus settlement that was both the site of Mount Malady hospital and
 the site of the  intended Indian college in the early settlement.
Abandoned after the 1622 massacre,  the site had much importance to early  colonists.
The Meeting was held in the Education Center  where members and guests viewed a
retrospective  of photographs from earlier meetings shown in PowerPoint,
 and enjoyed a delicious luncheon prepared by Chesterfield caterer Alice McIntyre
 (whose double desserts of old fashioned bread pudding with vanilla butter sauce and frozen
strawberry angel cake won raves from all). After lunch, the group reassembled at the
Mount Malady building, where Margaret Carlini, Education Specialist at Henricus, presented
 an interesting program on 17th Century Medicine. After viewing the implements
 and learning more about the skills (or lack of them) present in the early 1600s,
 we were all very grateful to be here looking back, rather than
there, looking forward. Enjoy the photos below, and see what you missed -
or if you were one of the fortunate group who attended, remember the day!
LOTS OF PHOTOS - TAKES A LONG TIME TO LOAD, BUT WORTH IT!

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Shown below: At the Education Center, this display about Pocahontas reads:
"Pocahontas was born around 1595 to Chief Powhatan. Pocahontas, also known
as Matoaka, was kidnapped and eventually brought to the Citie of Henricus.
She learned English, converted to Christianity, was baptized with the name
Rebecca, and married John Rolfe, a successful tobacco grower.
Pocahontas, Rolfe and their son, Thomas, sailed to London with Sir Thomas Dale
to be presented to the English royalty. On the journey back to her native land,
Pocahontas fell ill and died on March 21, 1617, in Gravesend, England,
where her remains rest."

Shown below: At the Education Center, this display about John Rolfe reads:
"Rolfe is the first Englishman credited with the experimental planting of
tobacco seeds that he obtained from somewhere in the Caribbean. The English
colonists preferred the fragrant sort that Spanish colonists produced in the
Caribbean. In 1612, Rolfe gave some tobacco from his crop to friends 'to make
triall of,' and they agreed that the new leaf had 'smoked pleasant, sweete and
strong.' Rolfe's experiments with tobacco developed the Virginia Company's
first profitable export and provided the colony a strong economic base."

Shown below: At the Education Center also is this portrait of Pocahontas

Shown below: At the Education Center is the seal of Henricus Historical Park

Shown below: At the Education Center, members and guests enjoy the luncheon.
Left to right at the table: Marty and Cacky Taylor, Louise and Henry Kelley, Cora Sue Spruill;
in background: Alice McIntyre and Joe Spruill.

Shown below: At the Education Center Historian Bea England and Organizing Governor
Judith Conner discuss the merits of both desserts.

Shown below: The framed Charter of the Chesapeake Bay Company
is on display at each Company meeting.

Shown below: This framed map is on display at the Henricus Gift Shop, and (sorry for
the glare of the glass) shows Farrar's Island which was separated from the mainland
by an impatient Union commander in the civil war who created Dutch Gap.

Shown below: After lunch, it was time to visit Mount Malady. This reconstruction of the
original hospital is the most imposing structure on the site.

Shown below: Looking to the right of the above photo, here is the remainder
of the front of the Mount Malady building.

Shown below: Inside Mount Malady building, beds were lined up to receive
settlers who were ill, or who were quarantined after arrival, to "season."

Shown below: Inside Mount Malady, members and guests enjoy the program.
Shown left to right: Louise Kelley, Cora Sue Spruill, Judith Conner,
Bea England, Marty Taylor, Henry Kelley, Betty Page Schroeder, Cacky Taylor,
Don Rager, Matt Yehiel, Bryan Godfrey, Joe Spruill.

Shown below: Inside Mount Malady, Education Specialist Margaret Carlini
entertains questions from members and guests. Shown, left to right:
 Margaret  Carlini, Louise Kelley, Cora Sue Spruill, Judith Conner,
Bea England, Marty Taylor and Henry Kelley.

Shown below: Inside Mount Malady, an entire table-ful of weird and interesting
medical implements and instruments awaited explanation.

Shown below: Close-up of the Mount Malady display reminds us why
we are grateful not to have been patients here.

Shown below: Leaving Mount Malady and ready to go to the bluff
to see the monuments, and to overlook the James River. Don Rager stands next
to golf cart; Bea England is the passenger.

Shown below: Passing through a palisade, attendees arrived at an imposing bluff
which overlooks the James. It is the site of two dramatic monuments.
Shown left to right: Joe Spruill, Henry Kelley, Betty Page Schroeder, Cora Sue Spruill.

Shown below: Cora Sue Spruill, Judith Conner, Louise Kelley, Margaret Carlini,
Matt Yehiel and Joe Spruill near the cross monument.

Shown below: Cora Sue Spruill stands in front of the larger monument,
illustrating its height and prominence at the site. Chimney to the left is a remnant
of a fairly recent dwelling on the site.

Shown below: The inscription on the cross monument reads:
"Near this spot was built Anno Domini 1611 the Church of Henricopolis
under the auspices of Sir Thomas Dale, High Marshall of Virginia,
The Reverend Alexander Whitaker, M.A., Minister. This cross is erected
 to commemorate the foundation of the Protestant Episcopal Church
in Henrico Parish, 1911, Replaced A.D. 1961"

Shown below: At the cross monument, left to right: Louise Kelley, Margaret
Carlini, Matt Yehiel, Joe Spruill, Bryan Godfrey, Henry Kelley

Shown below: The overlook shows the James River with the modern
Varina-Enon Bridge in the distance. Left to right: Joe Spruill, Betty Page
Schroeder, Henry Kelley, Cora Sue Spruill

Shown below: The overlook with the James River and Farrar's Island in the
background. Left to right: Betty Page Schroeder, Henry Kelley,
current Governor Susan Rager, Joe Spruill.

Shown below: Heading back through the settlement

Shown below: The barn held both tobacco and other crops.

Shown below: Tobacco crop drying.

Shown below: Crops inside the barn.

Shown below: A house typical of the early 1600s which might have been here.
Louise Kelley is at the front entrance.

Shown below: Arriving at the house, Betty Page Schroeder at left, Margaret Carlini
      and Bea England on the golf cart, Judith Conner at right.

Shown below: Colonial cooking demonstration as Judith Conner watches.

Shown below: Leaving via golf cart: Judith Conner, Betty Page Schroeder,
Bea England and Margaret Carlini chat with re-enactor.

All in all, a great day at an interesting venue!

Photographs of the April 19 Meeting by S. G. Rager

Other information on the meeting is posted below:

Meeting at 10:30 A.M., Education Center
Luncheon following the Meeting at the Education Center
Adjourn to Mount Malady Building
for presentation on
17th Century Medicine
by Margaret Carlini, Education Specialist at Henricus
$22.00 includes Luncheon & Program & Admission

Luncheon catered by Alice McIntyre,
Buffet Menu:
Tossed Salad with choice of 3 homemade dressings; Dijon Chicken Breast;
Seasoned Green Beans; Oven Roasted Potatoes
Homemade Rolls; Warm Bread Pudding with Vanilla Butter Sauce or
Frozen Strawberry Angel Cake; Coffee or Iced Tea

Golf cart transportation available for those with walking difficulties to get from the Education Center to the Mount Malady Building
For driving directions from Tappahannock, click here.
For driving directions from Irvington, click here.

Scroll down for additional information on Henricus . . .

Henricus Historical Park is a Chesterfield County park whose focus is the Citie of Henricus. Henricus, established in 1611 by Sir Thomas Dale, is just a few miles southeast of the current day city of Richmond. At the time, it was one of the developments lying farthest west from the early capital at Jamestown.

Nearby, Pocahontas is believed to have met and married John Rolfe. They lived together across the James at Varina Farms Plantation where their son Thomas was born.

Henricus was the site of the attempt to establish the very first college in the colony. The University of Henricus, chartered in 1618, did not succeed; by the time of the 1622 massacre, there existed only a school for Indians on the site. A college in Virginia did not appear until the College of William and Mary in 1693. The school for Indians was intended to teach trades to the native children. Churches in England raised 32,000 pounds sterling to help support the school, which they believed would train the Indians as Christian missionaries to their own people.

In 1616, there were 60 people there. During 1622's massacre, the town was burned and an unknown number of colonists were killed. A year later, an exploration found it totally abandoned.

Remnants of Henricus were able to be seen 100 years later. In 1747, William Stith wrote that "the ruins of this Town are still plainly traced and distinguished upon the Land of the late Col. William Randolph, of Tuckahoe." Enough bricks remained to show outlines of the houses at the time of the Civil War. Since then, Union forces cut a canal to straighten out the James River.

Unlike Jamestown, which remained relatively unscathed in the centuries since the early English settlers lived there, the actual site of Henricus was not known for many years; it was rediscovered and has been partially restored. Henricus Historical Park is within the 810-acre Dutch Gap Conservation Area.

Captain Ralph Hamor, in a 1614 account, describes Henricus thusly: "There is in this towne, 3 streets of well framed howses, a handsom Church, and the foundation of a more stately one laid, of Brick, in length, an hundred foote, and fifty foot wide, beside Store houses, watch houses, and such like: there are also, as ornaments belonging to this Town, upon the verge of this River, five faire Block houses."

A pamphlet by the Virginia Company, intended to attract new settlers to Virginia, perhaps exaggerates how enthusiastically the men built at Henricus: "Being thus invited here, they pitch, the spade men fell to digging, the brick men burnt their bricks, the company cut down wood, the Carpenters fell to squaring out, the Sawyers to sawing, the Souldier to fortifying, and every man to somewhat. And to answer the first objection for holesome lodging, here they have built competent and decent houses, the first storie all of bricks, that every man may have his lodging and dwelling place apart by himselfe." This is generally acknowledged to be a rosy account, as the excavations which have taken place do not verify such grand homes, and the descriptions do not match the housing being constructed in this very early time in Virginia.

Reconstructions at Henricus include an Indian village, the Citie of Henricus, and the John Rolfe Farm. Mount Malady (intended to allow the ill to recover), and Rock Hall, home of Pocahontas for a time, are included in the reconstructions.