Opposition in Virginia and in England quickly developed against the Virginia Indian Company . In Virginia, the opposition may have been mostly political; those who opposed the Company were against anything that had Spotswood’s name attached to it. In England, the trader merchants were very upset by being cut out of the trade or by being forced to accept the prices of the Company. The cry was raised that the business of the Company was monopolistic and against the instructions of the Crown. Spotswood counteracted that anyone could buy a share in the Company and participate in the business, at least indirectly, if not directly. Much conflicting evidence was submitted, which took a while to sort out. The objections raised in London were sent to Virginia to obtain answers. Finally William Byrd (in London then), Micajah Perry, and John Hyde threw their weight, which was considerable, in against the Company. The Act which created the Virginia Indian Company was repealed 31 July 1717, two and a half years after it was established. The news came at an unfortunate time in Virginia and the Council urged the Company to continue the work of maintaining the fortifications, the guard, the Indian “hostages”, and the trade at Christanna, at least on a temporary basis.
In London, Perry, Byrd, and Hyde testified that the Company had made great profits. Apparently, Spotswood thought so also, for there is a letter of 4 July 1716 by Richard Beresford, which reads in part:
“The Governor is now building a Handsome house near Christ Anna where he Intends to live when he Shall be out of the Government. It will Cost him about 5 or 600 £ sterlg and Divers other people Encouraged by the Governor’s Example are Settling Plantations that way. I saw abundance of Iron, Steel, & other Utensils carrying thither, there is a Couple of fforges Sett up, and it is Expected it will be a place of Note.”
Spotswood had no hopes for Germanna (the silver mine was a bust), but he returned to it as a base for a new endeavor. Part of his next strategy was to draw attention to that quarter of Virginia where he hoped to acquire land. His upcoming trip over the Blue Ridge in the late summer, which was not the first to cross the Blue Ridge, was seen as a disguise for another purpose, namely a search for mines; however, his subsequent activities showed that his interest was primarily in land, as we have seen recently in his letter to Col. Harrison.
Richard Beresford was an agent for the South Carolina Colony, where there was a lot of agitation against the
Virginia Indian Company
. His letter was the result of a specific search suggestion by Andreas Mielke. Sandra Yelton found an abbreviated and printed version in
Colonial Papers, America and West Indies
, page 143. The full document was obtained by Jim and Louise Hodge from the
Virginia Colonial Records
films. The original Public Record Office copy is identified as C.O. 5/1265. The complete Beresford letter was printed in
Beyond Germanna
on page 912.
(07 Sep 04)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.