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.
Berkeley Hundred was a Virginia Colony,founded in 1619,which comprised about eight thousand acres (32 km²) on the north bank of the James River. It was near Herring Creek in an area which is now known as Charles City County,Virginia. It was the site of an early documented Thanksgiving when the settlers landed in what later was the United States. In 1622,following the Indian Massacre of 1622,the colony was for a time abandoned. In the mid 18th century,it became known as Berkeley Plantation,the traditional home of the Harrison family of Virginia. In 1862,amid fighting in the Civil War,the area was the scene of the creation and first bugle rendition of present-day "Taps".
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.
Thomas Godwin was a Virginia politician,planter and real estate speculator in Tidewater Virginia. He thrice served in the House of Burgesses representing the Nansemond River area,and was its Speaker in the June 1676 session that preceded Bacon's Rebellion.
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.
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.
Samuel Sharpe,sometimes referred to as Samuel Sharp was an early Virginia colonist who settled in the area that became Charles City County,Virginia. He came to Virginia in 1610 with most of the passengers and crew of the Sea Venture as they made their way to the colony after 10 months in Bermuda. They had wrecked in a storm there and built two small boats to complete their journey to Jamestown. Along with Samuel Jordan,he represented Charles City as a burgess in the first general assembly of the Virginia House of Burgesses in Jamestown,Virginia in 1619. He was a representative for Westover,an incorporation of Charles City,in the 1623/24 assembly and signed a letter along with several burgesses at the time of that assembly.
Sir Richard Kemp was a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia. Kemp served as the Colony's Secretary and on the Governor's Council from 1634 to 1649. As the council's senior member,he also served as the acting Colonial Governor of Virginia from 1644 to 1645 during travels by Governor Sir William Berkeley. Kemp had also worked closely relation with Berkeley's predecessor,Sir John Harvey.
Samuel Swannn was a planter,militia officer and politician in the Colony of Virginia and the Colony of North Carolina.
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.
James Bray (ca.1630-1691) was a British merchant who also became an attorney,planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia,serving nearly a decade on the Virginia Governor's Council through Bacon's Rebellion (1670-1679),and later representing James City County in the House of Burgesses,although unseated when he refused to make a loyalty oath.
William Cole emigrated from Essex,England to the Colony of Virginia in 1618,and in 1629 was one of the two men who represented Nutmegg Quarter in the House of Burgesses.
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.
