1607 - The First Settlers of the New World

On April 26, 1607, at around four o'clock in the morning, three ships that had long been sailing the oceans - the "Susan Constant" and her consorts, the "Godspeed" and the "Discovery" - finally landed at Jamestown.  A few days earlier, they arrived at a cape on the south side of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. 

About twenty of the 54 men aboard went ashore, led by Captain Christopher Newport, who named the land "Cape Henry" in honor of the Prince of Wales.  The party ventured to the north named the land "Cape Charles" in honor of the Duke of York.

Their diaries and letters recorded that the land was of "faire meaddowes and goodly tall trees, with fresh-waters running through the woods."

The Susan Constant

The three ships sailed up the great river from Cape Henry and on April 26, 1607, they founded the land that Captain Newport named Jamestown in honor of King James I.  

It was decided that Jamestown was a better place to disembark and establish their settlement.  That very day, Reverend Robert Hunt held the first Church Service in the "New World."  

Diaries recorded that the land jutted out "on an extended plaine, a spot of earth which thrust out into depth and midst of the channell."

The three passenger ships arrived thirteen years before the Pilgrims landed at what came to be known as Plymouth, Massachusetts.  Traveling under the direction of the Virginia Company, this first group of settlers were all men, most of whom were in search of gold to make their fortune in the New World. 

Today, the replica of the 17th century Susan Constant was built in 1991 by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and financed by the Commonwealth of Virginia at a cost of $2.1 million.   Manned by a crew of 25, it cruises the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. The ship stands on exhibit at the Jamestown Settlement in Virginia, alongside the replicas of the Godspeed and Discovery. 

The original Susan Constant weighed 120 tons and, from tip to stern, was estimated at 116 feet.  Built in 1605 in London, the ship was used primarily as a freighter for transporting goods.  However, for the 1606-1607 voyage, it was leased to the Virginia Company by the English firm, Dapper, Wheatley, Colthurst and Company.  

The all-men voyage began on December 20, 1606 and lasted four and one-half months and arrived at Jamestown on April 26, 1607.  For the first six weeks, the three ships floated in the English Channel waiting for the right winds to carry them on their voyage.

The Susan Constant carried 54 men and the other two ships carried the remaining 51 men and all their belongings.  John Smith was one of the 105 men. 

The Reverend Samuel Purchas, one of the passengers, wrote a manuscript in 1625 called "Pilgrims" in which he stated the name of the ship as the "Sarah Constant." But researchers and genealogists believed he was mistaken and that the passing of nearly twenty years possibly caused his confusion.  In the leasing company documents, many newspaper accounts, and the writings of the first settlers, the ship was always the "Susan Constant" or "Susan."  

Though Reverend Samuel Purchas stood firm by his manuscript, no record of a ship named "Sarah Constant" was ever found for that time period.

The Susan Constant did not stay long in Virginia. As soon as she was filled with timber, she sailed back to England and never returned to Virginia again.  

Sources:

National Museum of American History, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.