Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 1.djvu/66

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

Sir Dudley Digges, of Chilham, county Kent, England, who was knight and baronet, and master of the rolls in the reign of Charles I., was born about 1620 and came to Virginia before 1650, when he purchased an estate on York river from Captain John West, subse- quently known as Bellfield. On November 22, 1654, he was made a member of the coun- cil, and was elected March 30, 1655, to succeed Governor Bennett. He was therefore the second governor under the "Commonwealth of England." He served as governor till March 13, 1658, when he was sent to Eng- land to cooperate with Bennett and Mathews against the rival claims of Lord Baltimore. The articles of surrender in 1652 guaranteed to Virginia her ancient boundaries, and the effort of the assembly was to get the Mary- land charter annulled, in which, however, they were not successful. After the restoration of Charles II., Digges served as a member of the council, and was greatly interested in the culture of silk and tobacco at his plantation on York river. In the silk culture he employed three Armenians, and the tobacco which he grew on his plantation became known as the E. D. Tobacco. More than a century after his death the tobacco grown at Bellfield had such a reputation that it brought one shilling per pound in the London market, when other tobaccos brought only three pence. Digges was auditor general from 1670 to 1675, and receiver general from 1672 to 1675. He died March 15, 1675, and his tombstone is still standing at Bellfield, his old home place on York river. His eldest son, Col. William Digges, settled in Maryland and was founder of a well known family in that state. His younger son. Colonel Dudley Digges, was a member of the council of Virginia. Cole Digges, a grandson, was also a councillor ; and

Dudley Digges, a great-grandson, was a mem- ber of the Virginia committee of safety, which in 1776 had really the executive power in its hands.

Mathews, Samuel, governor of Virginia from March 13, 1658, to his death in January, 1660, was born in England about 1600, and came to Mrginia in 1622. In 1623 he led a force against the Tanx Powhatan Indians. In 1624 he was one of the commissioners ap- pointed by the King to enquire into the condi- tion of the colony. In 1630 he built a fort at Point Comfort. In 1635 he took a leading part in the deposition of Sir John Harvey. He was appointed to the council in 1623, and in 1652 was sent as one of the agents to England to obtain a confirmation of the agreement with the parliamentary commissioners, securing to Virginia her anicent bound's, and he remained there till 1657. He was unsuccessful in his mission to recover Maryland to Virginia, and at length signed articles of accommodation with Lord Baltimore. He became governor of the colony March 13, 1658, and soon became involved in a controversy with the house of burgesses regarding the power of the council to dissolve the assembly. The house would not admit the contention, and claimed that the supreme power jay in the house as the repre- sentatives of the people. Mathews and his council were by the burgesses deposed from authority, but on their submitting to the will of the house were reelected and took the oath recognizing its authority. He died before the expiration of his term, in January, 1660, He was a very active citizen during his lifetime. His residence was at "Denbigh," on Deep creek, Warwick county, where he had a fine house and employed many servants. He mar- ried, about 1629, Prances, daughter of Sir