Colonial Virginia & New England Emigrants

Comparing English Settlers Arriving in America in the 17th Century

Jan 7, 2009

Two passenger lists from 1635 disclose widely different emigrants, enabling historians to draw conclusions about family and community building in colonial America.

In 1635, two ships left England with colonists destined for North America. The first group of emigrants was bound for New England while the other was headed to Virginia. A comparison of names, ages, and occupations demonstrates the differences between the two colonies in terms of family and community.

The list of passengers traveling to New England contains entire families and lists occupations. For example, Joseph Hull of Somerset was traveling with his second wife, seven children, and three servants, one of whom was a female. Joseph Hull was a minister. His oldest child, Joan, was aged 15. Since his wife was only twenty-five, it can be assumed that Hull had been married previously.

Another passenger, Musachiell Bernard of Batcombe, was a 24-year old clothier. Clothiers did not make clothing. Rather, they fulled and dressed cloth which meant to clean and thicken cloth and put it in good order. Bernard traveled with a wife and two sons.

Another family traveling to New England was the Tabor family, led by Timothy whose occupation is listed as tailor. Aged 35, he was accompanied by a wife, three children, and one servant. Other occupations listed included various husbandmen or farmers.

Unlike New England, historians have estimate that three-quarters of all emigrants to the Chesapeake area arrived as indentured servants. [1] A study of indentured servants in 1773-1776 by Farley Grubb [2] indicates, for example, that 90.35% of all Virginia emigrants came as indentured servants, compared to 1.85% in New England.

The 1635 ship passenger list corroborates this. 23 names on the list were under the age of twenty. One male was 30, two males were 40, and only one male was 50. 64 men and 11 women comprised the list of indentured servants. The list gives no indication of families, as does the New England one. However, there are men and women with the same last names which could indicate kinship.

Given the fact that colonial settlement in the Chesapeake was more widely dispersed than in New England, it is easy to see how the influx of single, young servants contributed to a slower pace of family growth and community building than in the Northern colonies. This may have been exacerbated in the mid 17th century as Africans began to take the place of indentured servitude.

General Conclusions Drawn from the List of Emigrants

While entire scholarly studies have focused on intricate aspects of colonial community and family life, certain general conclusions can be drawn from the two lists of passengers:

Certainly many other factors contributed. Virginia was a plantation colony begun as a commercial enterprise while Massachusetts was founded on religious grounds and featured family agriculture. Geography itself contributed to different social outcomes. Finally, the practice of religion also played a large role in how both regions evolved during the early colonial periods.

Sources:

Farley Grubb, “The Incidence of Servitude in Trans-Atlantic Migration, 1771-804,” Explorations in Economic History, 1985, 316-39.

Keith Morgan, Slavery and Servitude in Colonial North America (New York: New York University Press, 2001) p. 8.

The copyright of the article Colonial Virginia & New England Emigrants in Colonial America is owned by Michael Streich. Permission to republish Colonial Virginia & New England Emigrants in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.