July 10, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, the story of how one childless married couple of 13 years became a family of 9, literally overnight.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we returned to our American stories and the story
of Captain JOHNES Smith. Let's return to Julianna Rogers.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
So they're funded by a company called the Virginia Company
of London. They have three goals for the group that's
heading to Virginia. Number one, find gold. Number two, find
the Northwest Passage. So during that time they believed there
was a waterway that connected the Atlantic to the Pacific
that they would be able to navigate and make it
(00:42):
to the Orient. And the third goal was to find
any survivors from the Lost Colony. Several years earlier, another
English expedition went to Roanoke, Virginia, and the English were
never seen or heard from again. Captain Christopher Newport is
in charge of the three heading across the Atlantic. Everyone
(01:03):
admired Captain Christopher Newport. He was this tall, one armed
sea captain who actually fought alongside Sir Francis Drake. So
on December twentieth they set sail, and if you go
to Jamestown you can see actual replicas of these ships
and it's stunning to see how small they are. So
the Susan Constant had seventy one people, the Godspeed had
(01:27):
fifty two people, and the discovery had twenty one people.
So in all there were one hundred and five passengers
and thirty nine crew. Here's a list of who they sent.
Fifty gentlemen, twelve laborers, four carpenters, four boys, two bricklayers,
a priest, a sail maker, a mason, a blacksmith, a surgeon,
(01:50):
a tailor, and a drummer. It took one hundred and
forty four days four and a half months. John would
pass the time by telling the crew and the boys
his stories of his battles and dragging, and I'm sure exaggerating,
you know, these amazing stories. He's a hero and the
men and the boys are the crew, and the boys
(02:11):
enjoyed it. I mean, it's a great way to pass
the time to hear these stories. But many people also
did not enjoy it. And those were those powerful gentlemen
that were on board the ship. In fact, probably the
most powerful from the most powerful family was on board
John's ship, and they very quickly became enemies. And his
(02:32):
name was Edward Wingfield. So Wingfield distrusted John. He was
jealous of John, and he went to Captain Newport and
said John is trying to take over the ship. John
Smith is guilty of mutiny. We need to hang him,
and Captain Newport disagreed politely with Wingfield and said, don't
(02:53):
worry about it. And he went to John and said, hey,
stay away from Wingfield. You know, cool it, and you
know we have a long way to go, so let's
try to get along here. When they arrived in the
island of Nevis to replenish food and water, Captain Newport's
busy managing those things. So Wingfield decides we're going to
(03:16):
hang John Smith now. So he quickly has a gallows
erected and he tells John he's going to be hanged,
and John just laughs him off, and John's friends protect him,
and Wingfield is outraged that a man as powerful as
him is not being listened to. So Newport realizes he
needs to do something, so he tells John Smith will
figure this out when we get to Virginia, but for now,
you are confined to be low decks. He's actually a
(03:39):
prisoner in shackles, and here this man who would be
so important to the survival of Jamestown arrives in Virginia
as a prisoner in shackles. So Why did Captain Newport
protect John Smith. It just doesn't make any sense if
you think about it. Wingfield's very powerful, he's very important.
(04:00):
And you see, there was a secret box that was
sent along with a journey, and while Captain Newport was
in charge during the journey, once they got to Virginia,
after a few weeks, Captain Newport would leave, and so
they needed a governing body to be in charge when
they were in Virginia. So the Virginia Company sent along
(04:20):
a sealed box that they were only to open once
they arrived in Virginia, and it had the names of
eight men who would be on the governing council of Jamestown.
Wingfield is the very first name on the list. No
one is surprised. It's followed by several other gentlemen, and
everyone is shocked when they read the last name on
the list, Captain John Smith. So maybe Captain Newport knew
(04:44):
this and that's why he protected John Smith. So once
they arrived in Virginia, they named it Jamestown after their king,
King James. After two months, Captain Newport left. He returned
to go back to England and almost immediate after he left,
a sickness spread throughout Jamestown. Many men died. In fact,
(05:06):
they began the summer with one hundred and four and
by the end of summer only fifty were left. However,
John noticed that Wingfield and his friends seemed to be
doing better than the rest, and he realized that Wingfield
was keeping the freshest, healthiest food for himself and his friends.
So he was removed as president of the council and
(05:26):
John Radcliffe was put in charge. And John Radcliffe wasn't
a whole lot better than Wingfield, but at least he
recognized John Smith's strengths, and he put John in charge
of establishing relations with the local American Indians so that
they could trade for food. So John heads upriver on
a historic adventure. So John heads upriver. He takes a
(05:54):
few men and they actually have an Indian guide. At
this point, while they are ambushed by over two hundred
Indians and the only survivors are John Smith and the
Indian guide, and John realizes, well, maybe they won't kill
one of their own, so he ties himself to the
Indian guide and the Indian guide needs to survive, so
(06:15):
he tells the other Indians this is a where wance.
This is a leader, and so they know that only
another leader should determine the fate of this leader, John Smith,
and so they tell John to lay down his gun,
and John remembers that not long ago he was a
slave and he doesn't want to be a captive again,
(06:38):
so he continues to fight, and he's so outnumbered it's pointless,
but he continues to fight until he steps back into
this muddy bog and it's almost like quicksand it just
starts sucking him in and he realizes he's lost, so
he lays down his weapon. They pull him out of
the mud and they take him to the local chief.
(07:06):
So they take him to see Chief Opican Canoe. Opikon
Canoe is this enormous chief of the local tribe of
Powhatan Indians, and John knows he needs to do something
to impress this leader very quickly because his fate is
in his hands. So he takes out his compass and
(07:26):
Opikon Canue had never seen anything like this before, and
the needle moving some way that he doesn't know how
it's moving. So he's impressed with this interesting item, and
so John thinks, show, I think I just saved my life.
And immediately opikan Canue gives a signal and they take
John tie him to a tree, and they all draw
(07:47):
their bows and arrows. But he doesn't beg or cry
or plead. He just stands there, bravely accepting his fate.
Opikon Canoe is impressed by this display of courage, so
he orders John to be untied. And what they do
is they take him. Opconcanue takes him from tried to
try to try, and eventually they make it to wear Awocomoco,
(08:10):
which is where the chief, the paramount chief of all
of the tribes of this area, and Opiconcanu's brother lives.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
And you're listening to one heck of a story about
Captain John Smith and his journey from rural farmer in
England across the globe and to the United States eventually
and to Jamestown. And you're listening to Julianna Rodgers tell
the story. He's the author of Captain John Smith, American Hero,
and her book is available on Amazon dot com. And
(08:42):
of course Captain John Smith came to find gold and
to find this mythical Northwest Passage, which of course would
never come to be, and of course, to find survivors
from the last colony sent from England, the disappeared colony
of Rowan Oak, Virginia. When we come back, more of
(09:02):
the remarkable story of Captain John Smith and how America
came to be and who the people were who made
it happen here on our American Stories
And we returned to our American stories and the story
of Captain JOHNES Smith. Let's return to Julianna Rogers.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
So they're funded by a company called the Virginia Company
of London. They have three goals for the group that's
heading to Virginia. Number one, find gold. Number two, find
the Northwest Passage. So during that time they believed there
was a waterway that connected the Atlantic to the Pacific
that they would be able to navigate and make it
(00:42):
to the Orient. And the third goal was to find
any survivors from the Lost Colony. Several years earlier, another
English expedition went to Roanoke, Virginia, and the English were
never seen or heard from again. Captain Christopher Newport is
in charge of the three heading across the Atlantic. Everyone
(01:03):
admired Captain Christopher Newport. He was this tall, one armed
sea captain who actually fought alongside Sir Francis Drake. So
on December twentieth they set sail, and if you go
to Jamestown you can see actual replicas of these ships
and it's stunning to see how small they are. So
the Susan Constant had seventy one people, the Godspeed had
(01:27):
fifty two people, and the discovery had twenty one people.
So in all there were one hundred and five passengers
and thirty nine crew. Here's a list of who they sent.
Fifty gentlemen, twelve laborers, four carpenters, four boys, two bricklayers,
a priest, a sail maker, a mason, a blacksmith, a surgeon,
(01:50):
a tailor, and a drummer. It took one hundred and
forty four days four and a half months. John would
pass the time by telling the crew and the boys
his stories of his battles and dragging, and I'm sure exaggerating,
you know, these amazing stories. He's a hero and the
men and the boys are the crew, and the boys
(02:11):
enjoyed it. I mean, it's a great way to pass
the time to hear these stories. But many people also
did not enjoy it. And those were those powerful gentlemen
that were on board the ship. In fact, probably the
most powerful from the most powerful family was on board
John's ship, and they very quickly became enemies. And his
(02:32):
name was Edward Wingfield. So Wingfield distrusted John. He was
jealous of John, and he went to Captain Newport and
said John is trying to take over the ship. John
Smith is guilty of mutiny. We need to hang him,
and Captain Newport disagreed politely with Wingfield and said, don't
(02:53):
worry about it. And he went to John and said, hey,
stay away from Wingfield. You know, cool it, and you
know we have a long way to go, so let's
try to get along here. When they arrived in the
island of Nevis to replenish food and water, Captain Newport's
busy managing those things. So Wingfield decides we're going to
(03:16):
hang John Smith now. So he quickly has a gallows
erected and he tells John he's going to be hanged,
and John just laughs him off, and John's friends protect him,
and Wingfield is outraged that a man as powerful as
him is not being listened to. So Newport realizes he
needs to do something, so he tells John Smith will
figure this out when we get to Virginia, but for now,
you are confined to be low decks. He's actually a
(03:39):
prisoner in shackles, and here this man who would be
so important to the survival of Jamestown arrives in Virginia
as a prisoner in shackles. So Why did Captain Newport
protect John Smith. It just doesn't make any sense if
you think about it. Wingfield's very powerful, he's very important.
(04:00):
And you see, there was a secret box that was
sent along with a journey, and while Captain Newport was
in charge during the journey, once they got to Virginia,
after a few weeks, Captain Newport would leave, and so
they needed a governing body to be in charge when
they were in Virginia. So the Virginia Company sent along
(04:20):
a sealed box that they were only to open once
they arrived in Virginia, and it had the names of
eight men who would be on the governing council of Jamestown.
Wingfield is the very first name on the list. No
one is surprised. It's followed by several other gentlemen, and
everyone is shocked when they read the last name on
the list, Captain John Smith. So maybe Captain Newport knew
(04:44):
this and that's why he protected John Smith. So once
they arrived in Virginia, they named it Jamestown after their king,
King James. After two months, Captain Newport left. He returned
to go back to England and almost immediate after he left,
a sickness spread throughout Jamestown. Many men died. In fact,
(05:06):
they began the summer with one hundred and four and
by the end of summer only fifty were left. However,
John noticed that Wingfield and his friends seemed to be
doing better than the rest, and he realized that Wingfield
was keeping the freshest, healthiest food for himself and his friends.
So he was removed as president of the council and
(05:26):
John Radcliffe was put in charge. And John Radcliffe wasn't
a whole lot better than Wingfield, but at least he
recognized John Smith's strengths, and he put John in charge
of establishing relations with the local American Indians so that
they could trade for food. So John heads upriver on
a historic adventure. So John heads upriver. He takes a
(05:54):
few men and they actually have an Indian guide. At
this point, while they are ambushed by over two hundred
Indians and the only survivors are John Smith and the
Indian guide, and John realizes, well, maybe they won't kill
one of their own, so he ties himself to the
Indian guide and the Indian guide needs to survive, so
(06:15):
he tells the other Indians this is a where wance.
This is a leader, and so they know that only
another leader should determine the fate of this leader, John Smith,
and so they tell John to lay down his gun,
and John remembers that not long ago he was a
slave and he doesn't want to be a captive again,
(06:38):
so he continues to fight, and he's so outnumbered it's pointless,
but he continues to fight until he steps back into
this muddy bog and it's almost like quicksand it just
starts sucking him in and he realizes he's lost, so
he lays down his weapon. They pull him out of
the mud and they take him to the local chief.
(07:06):
So they take him to see Chief Opican Canoe. Opikon
Canoe is this enormous chief of the local tribe of
Powhatan Indians, and John knows he needs to do something
to impress this leader very quickly because his fate is
in his hands. So he takes out his compass and
(07:26):
Opikon Canue had never seen anything like this before, and
the needle moving some way that he doesn't know how
it's moving. So he's impressed with this interesting item, and
so John thinks, show, I think I just saved my life.
And immediately opikan Canue gives a signal and they take
John tie him to a tree, and they all draw
(07:47):
their bows and arrows. But he doesn't beg or cry
or plead. He just stands there, bravely accepting his fate.
Opikon Canoe is impressed by this display of courage, so
he orders John to be untied. And what they do
is they take him. Opconcanue takes him from tried to
try to try, and eventually they make it to wear Awocomoco,
(08:10):
which is where the chief, the paramount chief of all
of the tribes of this area, and Opiconcanu's brother lives.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
And you're listening to one heck of a story about
Captain John Smith and his journey from rural farmer in
England across the globe and to the United States eventually
and to Jamestown. And you're listening to Julianna Rodgers tell
the story. He's the author of Captain John Smith, American Hero,
and her book is available on Amazon dot com. And
(08:42):
of course Captain John Smith came to find gold and
to find this mythical Northwest Passage, which of course would
never come to be, and of course, to find survivors
from the last colony sent from England, the disappeared colony
of Rowan Oak, Virginia. When we come back, more of
(09:02):
the remarkable story of Captain John Smith and how America
came to be and who the people were who made
it happen here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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