Matoaka Pocahontas Powhatan

One of my ancestors was Pocahontas and in my research of her life I have found that Disney did not do her justice. She became a lady and a mother at a very young age, and took the hardships that life handed her with the dignity befitting the daughter of Chief Wahunsonacock Powhatan.

Matoaka Pocahontas Powhatan was born September 17 1595 and married to Kocoum, an under chief of the Powhatan tribe. She had married Kocoum in 1610 when she was fifteen years old. Her second husband was John Rolfe II. They were married April 5 1614 in the Anglican Church, Jamestown, Virginia. They were my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandparents.

Chief Roy Crazy Horse of the Powhatan Renape Nation writes the following bit of history: “Captain Samuel Argall again went up the Potomac and as he returned down river he noticed a herd of buffalo. While he was stopped at this place he heard that Pocahontas was in the region and at that point he plotted to kidnap her for ransom. He carried out he abduction, drew up the ransom note and sent it to her father, Powhatan. He stated that he would use Pocahontas as bargaining tool in exchange of Englishmen who were prisoners of Powhatan and tools and such, with some quantities of corn for the relief of the Colonies.” Captain Argall had enlisted the aid of Iopassus, the lesser weroance of Patawomeck, to help capture Pocahontas. He was convinced that it was in the best interest of all to help Argall in his plan in order to preserve the friendship of the English. Pocahontas accompanied a wife of Iopassus to see Argall’s ship. After all were on board, she was the only one not permitted to leave.

Pocahontas was transferred from Jamestown to the new community of Henrico and placed under the care of Reverend Whitaker and Marshall Dale, never to see her husband again. The kwiokosuk , the Powhatan priests were a powerful influence in the Indian community. Their roles were not just spiritual and medical, but they had strong political control as well. To have the Powhatans reject their own priests and become loyal to the missionaries, the Jesuit missionaries would have had to demonstrate even great powers than the kwiokosuk. If they could have put an end to the drought, the Powhatan people might have been tempted to change loyalties. But now as a prisoner, Pocahontas was forced to learn the ways of the English religion. She was subjected to it day and night. John Smith, in his General Historie wrote, “How careful they were to instruct her to Christianity and how capable and desirous she was thereof.” Among the three men instructing her was her soon-to-be husband, John Rolfe. (After she had been tutored for some time, she openly renounced the idolatry of her tribe. Today we call this brainwashing and torture.)

In 1613, John Rolfe had forced his affections on Pocahontas and in the farce of doing his Christian duty, married her. Chief Roy Crazy Horse states: “the only reason John Rolfe married Pocahontas was lust and greed. He saw the chance to be a wealthy man, which he later became”. John Rolfe was a very religious man who agonized for many weeks over the decision to marry Pocahontas, “a strange wife, a heathen Indian.” After she converted to Christianity, was baptized and changed her name to Rebecca, he married her “for the good of the plantation, the honor of our country, for the Glory of God and for mine own salvation.” John Rolfe had introduced tobacco to the Virginia Colony in 1612. A general peace and spirit of goodwill between the English and the Indians resulted from this marriage. The American Colonies of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries had very stringent laws prohibiting interracial marriages. Because Pocahontas and John Rolfe were married very early in the seventeenth century with the approval of the then Governor of the colony, and because Pocahontas was of royal (albeit aborigine) blood, the statutes in Virginia made an exception in their case. The laws of the other colonies were very strict and the punishment severe. Thus, Thomas Rolfe, son of John and Pocahontas was safe but only in Virginia or back in England. He chose to return to Virginia to claim the vast amount of land Powhatan had given the couple when they married.

In 1616 John Rolfe and his wife, Pocahontas ventured to England to show off the Princess to the King and Queen. While in London, she gave birth to their only child, a son, Thomas Rolfe. Not long after this, Pocahontas died at Gravesend, England, possibly of smallpox. The original burial registry of the Gravesend church indicates that she was buried on Mar 17 1617 in a vault beneath the Chancellor the Church. A representative of the church stated “you don’t get buried under a church in a private vault unless you are quite important.” The church burned in 1727 and a new one was built on the same site. Several graves were opened during the construction and the remains were re-interred in the church courtyard. There is no record indicating which graves from the hundreds on site were moved. So it is not know exactly where her bones are.

John returned to Virginia with his young son and when Thomas was old enough to attend school, he was sent to England for that purpose and he took lodgings and was under the care and tutorship of his uncle, Henry Rolfe. After this, Thomas returned to Virginia and settled on a large estate in old Henrico County (now Chesterfield County,) He married Jane Poythress and by her had one daughter, Jane Rolfe, before his untimely death.

Jane Rolfe was born 10 Oct 1650 in Virginia and died about 1676 in Virginia. She married John Robert Bolling born 1646 in London, England, on Nov 23 1675 in Petersburg, Virginia. One of their three children was John Bolling, born about 1676 who married Mary Kennon in 1697 in Henrico, Virginia. Their daughter, Jane Bolling, born 1698, married Richard Randolph in 1720.

Richard and Jane Bolling Randolph had a daughter, Frances Randolph, born about 1725 who married twice. Her first husband was John Jones. Her second marriage was to Joel Halbert, born 1712, Virginia. Frances and Joel Halbert had a daughter named Martha Halbert, who married Robert Hill, Sr. To give you a line of reference, Martha and Robert were my g-g-g-g-grandparents.

Robert and Martha Halbert Hill had a son, Robert Hill, Jr. He married Elizabeth Vest and their daughter, Sarah Sally Hill, born 1809, married Amer Jackson, born 1797. Their son, William Buck Jackson, married Sarah Shelton in 1867 and they were my g-grandparents. Their second son was William Caleb Jackson, born 1875, who married Alice East, born 1886, on 13 December 1903. According to family members, they had fifteen children. (two died, unnamed, at childbirth).

My Grandfather Jackson did so many fun things, he let me help when he gathered honey from the bee hives, and this had to be an act of love on his part. He allowed me to help him sort apples that he used to make cider. I could help him count out sweet potato slips, as he sold these to other farmers in the area. He would always be able to find a "copper or two," which is what he called pennies, for me. After being cautioned not to say anything to my Grandmother, he would walk with me to Royal Hunter's store and we would spend a lot of time deciding just exactly how to spend those pennies on candy. Those BB-Bat all day suckers, or packages of Kits were hard decisions to make.

When W. Caleb Jackson was a young man, he was rabbit hunting and the gun accidentally went off and his arm was so severely damaged that it had to be removed. I was always amazed at what he could do with one hand. He rolled his own cigarettes. He would hold the small white wrapping paper in one hand, have the tobacco sack in his mouth and gently shake the tobacco into the paper (without dropping any) and then slowly roll the paper around the tobacco with one hand, lick the edge of paper and seal it. He could tie a neat bow on his shoe strings. He could swat an unruly grandchild on the behind quicker than one could jump. In other words, there was not much my Grandpa could not do. He was my "hero." When he died in 1959, my second child was just a baby and I mourned that my children would grow up without him in their lives.

My father, Joseph D. Jackson was their second child.. He grew up on his father's farm in Westfield, North Carolina . He attended school in the area. After his marriage to my mother, Della Mae Inman, he went to work for the North Carolina State Highway Department. This job caused us to have to move quite a bit. Eventually he bought a farm in the Brown Mountain area of Stokes Co., North Carolina and they lived there until my mother’s death in 1956. He sold the farm and married again, this time locating in Francisco, North Carolina . After his second wife's death, he married again and lived in Mount Airy, North Carolina until his death in 1989, just four days before his 82nd birthday.

Everyday of my life I have thanked God for the two parents I had. I feel that who I am and how I think and reason about life is due to the love and nurturing care I received as I was growing up. We were not rich with money, but very rich in love and the things that mattered. We always had plenty of food, good shelter, warm clothing, and lots of work to keep us busy. We had special events in our lives that to this day are sweet memories.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my connection to Pocahontas. I treasure and try to preserve my heritage and encourage others to learn about your ancestors.