PhilsGenes.org

Richard Pace and Jamestown

"Jamestown's early history alternated between near disaster and faint success. The root difficulty was that the colony needed soldiers, craftsmen and farmers, but instead was populated largely by self-important gentlemen unaccustomed to manual labor. Energy was wasted in the search for gold and silver, when prudence would have demanded crop planting. The consequences of such actions were severe. More than one-third of the colonists died during the winter of 1607-08, having fallen prey to malaria, typhoid fever, scurvy and dysentery."
www.u-s-history.com - Jamestown

"The relationship between the Jamestown settlers and the indigenous people of Virginia was strained from the start. Much of the initial ill will was rooted in the the colonists' belief that the Indians would welcome them and willingly supply food. From the white perspective, it seemed that a mutually beneficial arrangement could be made by exchanging European tools and Christianity for sustenance. That bargain made little sense to the natives, however. The settlers failed to realize that the Indians lived very close to the subsistence level by hunting and gathering little more than their immediate needs required. Additional pressure on their food supply raised a real possibility of starvation.

Tensions were heightened when the colonists allowed their livestock to wander into Indian cornfields, and especially when the whites used their superior firepower to extort food contributions from the tribes."
www.u-s-history.com - The Powhatan Confederacy

"[The death of Pocahontas] in 1617 and Powhatan’s own demise the following year enabled the more aggressive Opechancanough to exert control over the confederacy. The new chief feigned an interest in Christianity and issued invitations to settlers to move farther onto native lands. In March 1622, the Indians launched a surprise attack on the dispersed white settlements. Nearly 350 whites were killed — nearly one-third of the population. Livestock was slaughtered and crops were burned."
www.u-s-history.com - The Powhatan Confederacy

"The night preceding the Massacre of 1622, Chanco, a Christian convert in the employ of Richard Pace, revealed to Mr. Pace the terrible scheme to kill the English colonists in Virginia. After securing the defenses of Paces Pains on the south shore of the James river, Mr. pace hastily rowed in a canoe across the river to Jamestowne to notify the Governor and all others within the fortification of the imminent attack. When the Indians finally struck, they did so simultaneously on both sides of the James from the present sites of Richmond to Newport News. Among the 347 souls massacred were six members of the Council and many of the oldest and most experienced colonist."
www.jamestowne.org

Moon Family Line

Pace Family