Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/128

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Berkeley, John. lie was the son of Sir John Berkeley, of the castle and manor of Beverstone, in the county of Gloucester, Eng- land, an eminent branch of the noble family of the Berkeleys of Berkeley castle. He lived but eight months in X'irginia, but in that time was well known as the "master and overseer"" of America's first effort to manufacture iron. Iron ore was one of the first commodities car- ried back to England by the ships of the \ir- ginia Company, which as early as 1619 con- sidered the establishing of iron works in the colony. The following year 150 men were sent out to \'irginia for this express purpose and, in 1621, Sir Edwin Saudis reports that a Mr. John Berkeley had been found to take up the work who was "very sufficient" in such service. The same year, Berkeley sailed to X'lrginia to take up the new task. The site chosen for the new works was on Falling creek which empties into the James river about sixty-six miles above Jamestown and some seven miles below the present city of Rich- mond. Berkeley sent an encouraging report of the conduct of the work and declared that by the following Whitsuntide the company m.ight count on "good (|uantities of iron."" The terrible Indian massacre of Mar. 22, 1622, intervened, however, and Berkeley was among those slain. John Berkeley had issue by Mary, daughter of John Snell, Esq. — Maurice, John, Henry, William, Edward, Thomas, ^lary, h'rances, Elizabeth and Anne. His son, Mau- rice, came to X'irginia with his father and hap- pily escaped the massacre. He married l)ar- bara, daughter of Sir W'alter Long, and had issue, "Edward and others." There is a promi- nent Berkeley family in \'irginia which, de- scend from Edmund Berkeley, living in 1674, who may have been a son of Edward last named.

Capps, William, came to \'irginia before 1 6 19, in which year he was burgess for Kico- tan, as Hampton was then called. During many years Capps took an active part in the affairs of the colony. On Jan. 26, 162 1, the company granted him a patent for land in consideration of his undertaking to transport 100 persons to \'irginia, and on Feb. 22, upon his humble request, the court ( of the Virginia Company) ordered a certificate to be drawn up by the secretary to testify to the good esteem in which he was held, "as well in the Colony of Virginia, and may appear by the rewards of his good service under them, as also of what ability he is reported to be there in respect of the great supplys he had sent there." On May 2, it was ordered that he should receive as a reward "five men's passage free at the Company"s charge, in consideration of his many years service of the Company in \ irginia. with the hazard of his life among the Indians." "I'pon October 7, 1622," "]\Ir. Wil- liam Capps, an ancient planter in X'irginia," m.ade the following requests of the company: ( I ). that Sir William Xewce be required to deliver him the five men for whose transporta- tion he had paid that gentleman thirty pounds here in town (London) ; (2), that Sir George Yeardley restore him a chest of goods he de- tained from him; (3), that he might have sat- isfaction for that land in \lrginia taken from him by Yeardley. At a meeting of the com- pany, Apr. 8, 1624, "Mr. William Capps openly declared, on the faith of an honest man, that with three boys only, which he said were not a man and a half, he had made 3.000 weight of tobacco, and sold 50 barrels of corn heaped measure, and kept beside 60 barrels for his own store, and all this he had performed by the labor of three boys only, himself having never done, as he termed it, one stroke of