Nathaniel Bacon was an English merchant adventurer who emigrated to the Virginia Colony,where he sat on the Governor's Council but later led Bacon's Rebellion. The Rebellion was briefly successful;but after Bacon’s death from dysentery the rebel forces collapsed.
Bacon's Rebellion was an armed rebellion held by Virginia settlers that took place from 1676 to 1677. It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley,after Berkeley refused Bacon's request to drive Native American Indians out of Virginia. Thousands of Virginians from all classes and races rose up in arms against Berkeley,chasing him from Jamestown and ultimately torching the settlement. The rebellion was first suppressed by a few armed merchant ships from London whose captains sided with Berkeley and the loyalists. Government forces arrived soon after and spent several years defeating pockets of resistance and reforming the colonial government to be once more under direct Crown control.
Middle Plantation in the Virginia Colony was the unincorporated town established in 1632 that became Williamsburg in 1699. It was located on high ground about halfway across the Virginia Peninsula between the James River and York River. Middle Plantation represented the first major inland settlement for the colony. It was established by an Act of Assembly to provide a link between Jamestown and Chiskiack,a settlement located across the Peninsula on the York River.
Philip Cottington Ludwell was an English-born planter and politician in colonial Virginia who sat on the Virginia Governor's Council,the first of three generations of men with the same name to do so,and briefly served as speaker of the House of Burgesses. In addition to operating plantations in Virginia using enslaved labor,Ludwell also served as the first governor of the Carolinas,during the colony's transition from proprietary rule to royal colony.
Colonel Thomas Ballard was a prominent colonial Virginia landowner and politician who played a role in Bacon's Rebellion. He served on the Governor's Council 1670–79 and was Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses 1680–82.
Colonel Edward Hill was a Virginia planter,soldier and politician. In addition to representing Charles City County for many terms in the House of Burgesses,fellow members three times selected him as its Speaker,and he sat in the Virginia General Assembly's upper house,the Virginia Governor's Council in 1651 as well as from 1660-1663. Burgesses also sent Hill to Maryland to put down Richard Ingle's 1646 rebellion,and he acted as the colony's temporary governor before ceding to the proper governor,Leonard Calvert,but later contested nonpayment of monies promised to him and Virginia militia troops for that action. Col. Hill also led the Charles County and Henrico County militia and Pamunkey native Americans against other tribes in Hanover County in 1656,with less success.
Francis Moryson was an English soldier who became a Virginia colonial official and agent. A Royalist in the English Civil War,he emigrated to the Virginia Colony,where he held several posts before returning to England and becoming the colony's agent,and finally briefly served on the commission investigating Bacon's Rebellion.
Colonel Augustine Warner Jr. was an American planter,military officer and politician. He served in the House of Burgesses from 1666 to 1677 and was its Speaker in two separate sessions in 1676 and 1677,before and after Bacon's Rebellion. Warner then served on the Virginia Governor's Council from October 1677 until his death. Warner is the last common ancestor of George Washington and King Charles III.
Col. William Travers was a lawyer,early settler and politician of Colonial Virginia.
Arthur Allen II,also known as Major Allen was a Virginia colonial planter,merchant,military officer and controversial politician who twice served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He supported Governor William Berkeley during Bacon's Rebellion and became a prominent member of the Green Spring faction opposing later royal governors.
Joseph Bridger emigrated to the Virginia colony from England where he became wealthy and known for supporting Governor William Berkeley and his successors. As would his namesake grandson and several other descendants,Bridger served in the House of Burgesses representing Isle of Wight County. Bridger also served in the legislature's upper house,the Virginia Governor's Council,and led troops against the rebels during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 as well as in 1682,when he helped suppress the tobacco cutters.
James Crewes was a British merchant who traded with the Virginia colony before emigrating there. He became a planter in Henrico County and represented it for one session of the House of Burgesses,but was executed for his participation in Bacon's Rebellion.
William Kendall Sr. (I) (1621-1686) was a British merchant,planter,military officer and politician who came to own considerable land on Virginia's Eastern Shore. He represented Northampton County several times before and after Bacon's Rebellion,and during 1685 became the 21st Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses while representing Accomack County.
Colonel Lemuel Mason was an early Virginia planter,politician,justice of the peace,and militia colonel,who represented Lower Norfolk County in the House of Burgesses intermittently over three decades.
John Custis II (Sr.) was a North American Colonial British merchant and planter who aligned with governor William Berkeley during Bacon's Rebellion and began a political career in which he served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and became one of the founders of the Custis family,one of the First Families of Virginia.
Edward Hill Jr. was a controversial Virginia planter,local official and politician,who like his father operated Shirley Plantation in part using enslaved labor,as well as briefly served as 20th Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses,and several times represented Charles City County in that body.
Thomas Swann was a planter,tavernkeeper,militia officer and politician in the Colony of Virginia who sat in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly and survived Bacon's Rebellion.
George Jordan (1620-1679) was a British attorney who also became a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. He twice served as the colony's attorney general and at various times represented James City County and Surry County in the House of Burgesses,and may have served on the Virginia Governor's Council.
Thomas Milner,emigrated from England to the Virginia colony where he became a merchant,planter,military officer and politician who twice served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Richard Lawrence was an Oxford University graduate who emigrated to the Virginia colony where after various real estate speculations,he married a wealthy widow and became a tavernkeeper in Jamestown. Lawrence became one of Nathaniel Bacon's closest confidantes during Bacon's Rebellion and briefly served in the House of Burgesses during that conflict,after which he vanished with two other men otherwise likely to have been sentenced to death for treason.
