98
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
