I will use material from Leonidas Dodson's book, " Alexander Spotswood, Governor of Colonial Virginia, 1710-1722 ", which was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 1932. Most people consider this the best biography of Spotswood. Much of the material will be a direct quotation from the book but I will edit it for my purposes here.
The idea of a Company which would have a monopoly of Virginia's Indian trade did not entirely originate with Spotswood. Though at times he denied being the author of the plan, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the scheme took place in the fertile brain of the governor. The Indian trade was a profitable business, especially for the Byrd family who sent many traders out to the field. Many of the traders were smaller, independent people who struggled to turn a profit.
By The Act for the Better Regulation of the Indian Trade , all commerce between the inhabitants of Virginia and the Indians, tributaries living north of the James River excepted, was confined to Fort Christanna, the southern fort on the frontier. The Virginia Indian Company was to have a monopoly of this trade for twenty years, subject to final incorporation by the Crown. In return, the Company was to undertake various public services, and, if it failed in these duties, it could be fined or even dissolved. These duties were a contribution of 100 pounds toward building a munitions magazine at Williamsburg. This was to be the source of the powder in the Indian trade, but the Company had to replace the powder they withdrew with fresh powder. The Company had to erect a schoolhouse for the Indian children at Christanna. At the end of two years, it was to assume the entire burden of maintaining the garrison and keeping up the fortifications there. (Indians who had received an education either at William & Mary or at Christanna might be admitted to any place of trust or profit under the Company.) The Governor was given wide discretion in establishing the new regime.
Even before the Indian Company was formed, Spotswood secured the services of a schoolmaster, Charles Griffin, to work among the Indians at Christanna. His salary of 50 pounds a year was paid by the Governor from his own pocket. For a period, there was a missionary working among the Indians. Many settlers, attracted by the fertility of the soil, were located at Christanna, which was more than sixty miles from any Parish Church. Soon, more than three hundred Indians were settled near Christanna, and Griffin's school had more than seventy students.
The act establishing the
Virginia Indian Company
was passed on 24 December 1714. Even though the legislation had not been approved in London, the books were opened for subscriptions by the stockholders on that same day. A person could buy one or two shares at fifty pounds per shares. Spotswood bought two shares and his housekeeper bought shares also. He was elected Governor of the Company.
(07 Sep 04)
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