Summer 2008 Newsletter (a PDF file)
     - Fall Tour of Historic Homes - those we will visit on Sept 27th
     - Message from the Company governor
     - Report on the presentation
          "Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake"
      - Article by St. Julien R. Marshall, Jr., past Company Governor
 

          Be sure to check our "Company Meetings and Bus Tours" page.

   In 1607, thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River. They were sponsored by the Virginia Company of London, whose stockholders hoped to make a profit from the resources of the New World. The community suffered terrible hardships in its early years, but managed to endure, earning the distinction of being America's first permanent English colony.  Significantly, the first representative government in the new world was organized and, members having been elected, met in the church at Jamestown in July, 1619.   For more about this click here.

      In 1625, the Virginia Company of London, which could no longer finance this venture, was dissolved by King James I, and Virginia became a royal colony. 

      The formal organization of the Jamestowne Society, at Jamestown Island on 14 May 1936, was the result of a vision by George Craghead Gregory, who was the founder and the guiding spirit of the society.  The objects of the society were:  "To discover and record the names of all living descendants of those early settlers who made great sacrifices to establish our English speaking nation; and to unite these descendants to honor the memory of their settler ancestors, to record their deeds, and to do homage to the birthplace of Virginia and the Nation." 

       By gathering together the descendants of those who experienced Jamestown's hardships and took advantage of its opportunities, we hope that like-minded individuals will work together to keep its history alive for new generations yet to come.

       The National Jamestowne Society has grown to over 5,000 members in 25 Companies throughout the Nation.  The Washington and Northern Virginia Company was founded in 1959, and supports the Jamestowne Rediscovery archaeological “Dig.” Excavation since 1994 has uncovered hundreds of thousands of artifacts dating to the first half of the 17th century. Nearly half of the objects date to the first years of English settlement (1607-1610).   For more about this, visit  the "Jamestown Rediscovery" web site, by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, the Jamestown Fort excavation area, at:      
                 http://www.apva.org/finding/fort.html

The Washington and Northern Virginia Company also created a library of research materials for the use of citizens, students and scholars, to honor Herschel H. Helm, Governor of the Company from 1980 until he died in 1988.  He was a vigorous supporter and molder of the Company and was dedicated to preserving the record of early Virginia.  Click on that link above for details.

       We hope that all will find the information contained in this web site -- and in the national Jamestowne Society web site -- helpful in strengthening the bonds of interest in this special period of our history that link us together.