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 To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html