Jim Gulledge, Author

Although Dad's people began arriving in Jamestown in the 1620's,
I can find few details of their lives. Starvation, brutal wars with the native population, fire and plague seem to have erased much of their story. Here is a brief account of the "New World" they encountered:

"Since 1606, approximately 7300 emigrants have sailed for the colony, and 6,040 have died either en route or after arrival. However, the Privy Council argues that the colony has had a net increase of only 275 people since its founding. The colony suffers from chronic food shortages and seems unable to get a subsistence from its own efforts. The greatest death rate has occurred between 1621 and 1623, during the period of the Great Migration.

The causes of the colony's low condition are numerous: over-cultivation of tobacco; conflicts with the Powhatans, caused or aggravated by the colonists' dependence on them for food; poorly coordinated arrivals of colonists and supplies; and an unhealthy location and bad water supply that causes chronic ill health and high death rates.

In sum, the problems are complex and various, and the Company, riven by factional fighting, is unable to resolve them."

( LOC, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606-1827)