Smith's Lincolnshire Childhood
John Smith was born in about the year 1579, in Willoughby, Lincolnshire, England. He was baptized there on January 9, 1579. After receiving a grammar school education he was apprenticed to a local merchant. In about 1600 he ran away from home and while traveling through France and at sea, survived some fantastic adventures. He later served in the army for four years on the European continent. Upon his return he made a brief visit to Scotland but returned to the Continent. There, he fought with the Austrians against the Turks in Transylvania.
Enslaved in Russia
According to Smith, he was taken prisoner and sent to Constantinople to be used as a present to the wife of a Turkish pasha. Evidently the wife of the pasha took a liking to the Englishman because she became fearful of his safety and sent him out of Turkey. Smith was sent into what became Georgia in the U. S. S. R. But still his troubles were not over. In Georgia he was made a slave.
But Smith, true to his brashness and his instinct to survive, killed the man that was his master and escaped to Western Europe. He returned from his extended ordeals to England in about 1604.
Smith Sails for America
Evidently not having had nearly enough of adventure and excitement, John Smith sailed for America on December 16, 1607. While on this voyage to the New World, Smith was accused of conspiracy. He knew he faced a hanging.
Appointed as Councilor by the Crown
Smith was kept under guard until after the expedition reached the James River in Virginia. However, a reprieve came for Smith when it was discovered that he was one of the counselors that had been appointed by the Virginia Company back in England to govern this new colony in America. Once it was realized that Smith, rather than attempting to take over and assert his personal authority, had been officially appointed by the crown as a councilor the conspiracy charges were dropped at once.
It did not take long after landing at the Jamestown site to see that these people were ill prepared for beginning a new life in a strange wilderness. Compounding their problems were occasional raids by Indians, disease that decreased their numbers, and quarrels amongst the local seven-man council.
London Company Makes Demands
Some of the Jamestown gentlemen refused to work with the soil, preferring to search for gold and other precious metals. There were also those who preferred not to engage in any sort of labor at all.
Also, the London Company was not helping mattes in Jamestown at all. At least twice in 1608, English ships arrived in America demanding lumber, pitch, tar and other cargo to fill their holds. The Jamestown settlers had no choice but to stop preparations for a soon to come long, cold American winter and supply the ships' demands. Seeing the situation, Smith took charge. He is credited with forcing the Jamestown people to work or do without food.
Captured by Powhatan, Saved by Pocahontas
In time, Smith met an equally strong leader whose influence was equally powerful among his own people. Powhatan was the primary Native American leader in the area. The two met when Smith was captured by some hostile Indians and brought before Powhatan. From this incident came the possibly true story of Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, successfully pleading to her father to spare Smith's life.
Whales, Pirates, and the Mayflower
In 1614, after having returned to England, Smith was hired by London merchants to hunt whales along the North Atlantic coast of America. On a return voyage the next year he was captured by pirates but did return to England, penniless. The results of his exploring venture was his next claim to fame in the form of a book he wrote entitled A Description of New England. His book was an instant best seller. Smith is also credited, as well as others, with coining the name "New England."
This followed with a member of the Plymouth Company applying to the king for a patent to explore and settle this area which, at the time, extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, though no one had any idea of the vast extent this entailed. This area, what we call New England today, became the landing place of the Mayflower when it reached the New World in 1620. Eleven years later, in June of 1631, Captain John Smith died in London.
Sources:
Athearn, Robert G. The New World: American Heritage New Illustrated History of the United States, Volume 1. Dell Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 1963.
Collier's Encyclopedia, Volume 21. Crowell-Collier Educational Corporation, 1968.
Smith, John. David Freeman Hawke, Editor. Captain John Smith's History of Virginia. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. Indianapolis & New York, 1970.
