STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTON. This is a TEMPORARY PAGE.
NOTES:
- The U.S. Library of Congress has transcripts of 17th
Century Virginia Company records. Here is a transcript
of March 10, 1617/18 letter from Governor Argall to the
Virginia Company in England. In it, he refers to Samuel Maycock
as a Cambridge scholar and requests "orders" for him (requests that the
Church of England ordain him a priest). CLICK HERE to see a PDF copy of the transcript.
- Several websites say that Samuel Maycock was on the
governor's council. To understand that we first have to
understand what the council was and how it worked in colonial
government. CLICK HERE to read how the governor's council worked with the House of Burgesses in bicameral government that voted as one.
[source: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/governors-council-the/]
- Problems arise when trying to locate original Virginia
Company Records that confirm that Samuel Maycock was a member of the
governor's council. He was and there is proof but first we must
understand how the government was organized. Once we understand how it
was organized, then we need to understand where copies of records came
from that we have today.
HOW COLONIAL GOV'T WAS ORGANIZED - Members of the House of Burgesses
were elected by the various plantations on which they resided.
Samuel Maycock was NOT a member of this house. He was on the
governors council. That's why his name never appears in a list of
original 1619 (or later) members of this house. Because he was on
the council, he was required to reside near the governor and always be
present when needed to give his voice on the council or the council's
court (called the Quarter Court). He was therefore present in the
July 24, 1621 court record which outlined the difference between the
governor's council and the House of Burgesses. CLICK HERE to view a transcript of this court's record.
HOW WE KNOW THE PROVENANCE OF THESE RECORDS - Original Virginia Company
records created in America were sent to the Virginia Company of
London. Copies were kept in the colony. These copied were
duplicated over time. The originals, the copies kept, and the
duplicates made of them were all handwritten on looseleaf papers.
One set of these papers was purchased by U.S. President Thomas
Jefferson. Eventually they were moved from the Jefferson Library
(in his home) to the Library of Congress (in Washington D.C.).
Because "originals" were always copies of copies of copies, we have no
way of comparing with original records. The manuscripts kept by
the Library of Congress were copied by Columbia University graduate
student, Susan Myra Kingsbury, in 1905. The university persuaded
the Library of Congress to print copies from her printer's manuscript
for distribution to various universities. The Congressional
Library also has copies. CLICK HERE to view a more detailed
explanation of this printed manuscript and to view or download a huge
(34MB) PDF of Vol. 1.
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The follow two links are examples of formats of presenting information:
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