Dear Randy,
       Captain John Smith did not save the colony as it was abandoned less
than a year after he left (only to be re-established a couple of hours
later). No one is as generous giving him credit as he is himself. Certainly
the investors in Virginia did not think he was responsible for saving the
enterprise.
         If we are talking of *non-resident* 17thc. Virginians, the credit
must go to Edwin Sandys, who as 'treasurer' of the Virginia Company is
credited by many contemporaries with turning around the fortunes of the
colony. Although he never sailed across the Atlantic, he was responsible for
laying the groundwork for many of the most important institutions in
Virginia including its representative assembly, recruited a number of other
important Americans (including his nephew the governor Francis Wyatt),
organized the shipping of unmarried women who settled in Virginia and made
it a colony and not just a military outpost and generally speaking, put it
on a firmer financial footing.


>From: Randy Cabell <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Randy Cabell <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Great/Important 17th Century Virginian
>Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:02:37 -0500
>
>No question about it, Capt. John Smith.  He took command of a mess,
>instilled military discipline to the benefit of the settlers, and as a show
>of force to the Indians.  He saved the Jamestowne Colony in its first
>years.
>OK, so he wasn't born in Virginia :((, since of course it did not exist.
>
>Randy Cabell

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