Peninsula In Passage

Early Slaves The very earliest recorded slaves owned in the Bennett’s Creek area were those of Maj. Gen. Richard Bennett. In 1635 Augt. was listed as his servant. Andolo and Maria were names of slaves “brought in” to the plantation of Argoll Yeardley. John Wilkins “brought in” two slaves in 1637. At first slavery was a legal indenture between owner and servant but, by the 1660s, a plantation economy began to immerge based on outright ownership of black slaves who had no opportunity for freedom. This permanent labor force and their posterity were profitable and importation of slaves increased. In 1731 John Yeates’ will listed “the heirs of his slaves” as part of his endowment to support public schools. Nansemond Town at Town Point

Early cemetery that started with slaves

By 1700 Nansemond was an important county in the colony. From the Virginia General Assembly records we know the County Town had been ordered built in 1680 on the Nansemond River at what is now known as “Town Point.”This was a strategic point at the entrance to the Nansemond River and overlooked the mouth of the James River and Hampton Roads Harbor. As early as 1667 an act was passed to build forts in the counties, and the Nansemond fort commissioners were appointed to build a fort at Town Point. In 1672 the General Assembly passed another order for brick repairs to the forts. The fort at Town Point figured prominently in Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. The Royal troops and the rebels engaged around the fort until the rebels were quashed. From July 14, 1677 to January 16, 1678 the fort was headquarters for soldiers from Nansemond and Isle of Wight counties. In 1680 an order was passed for a town to be laid out on 50 acres of land bought for 10,000 pounds of tobacco and casks. The lots were to be one-half an acre each and were to be sold for 100 pounds of tobacco. A dwelling and a warehouse had to be erected within three months or the land reverted back to the trustees. Charles II cancelled this order but in 1691 another law was passed ordering that the town be built. General Assembly Records In October 1705, an act was passed that Nansemond town was to have a port as well as market days on Mondays and Thursday each week and annual fair days in mid-October. In 1740 a ferry was established from Nansemond Town to Hampton, the price being 7 shillings, 6 pence for each man and horse, and of more than one, 5 shillings for each man and each horse.

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