John Smith (colonist)

John Smith c.1580-1631, English colonist in America, b. Willoughby, Lincolnshire, England. A merchant's apprentice until his father's death in 1596, he thereafter lived an adventurous life, traveling, fighting in wars against the Turks in Transylvania and Hungary, and surviving a period of slavery in Turkey. His own account of these adventures has been doubted by some investigators but has been substantiated in a number of particulars. Returning to England, he invested in the new London Company and in 1606 sailed from London for America with Capt. Christopher Newport . On arrival in Virginia, Smith was named a member of the governing council of the Jamestown settlement, although not permitted to serve immediately, and began his explorations of the surrounding territory. He established trade relations with the Native Americans, drew up a map of Virginia, and finally fell into the hands of the Native American chief Powhatan . Although there is no definite proof of the famous incident of Smith's being saved from death by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas , it is considered quite probable that it happened. After his return (1608) to Jamestown, Smith's enemies arrested him, but he was saved from hanging by the arrival of Newport with new settlers. Smith then became president of the council and energetically resisted the company's peremptory demands that the colonists find gold. Maintaining his leadership despite opposition, he carried the colony through periods of intense suffering, hunger, and want (the "starving time" ), remaining firm, tactful, and resourceful. Injured in an explosion, he returned to England in 1609. In 1614 he was sent to New England by a group of London merchants, and returned with a valuable cargo of fish and furs. He emphasized the importance of fishing and upheld the prospects for settlement in New England. On another voyage he was captured by pirates and then by the French, but eventually returned to England. He wrote A True Relation of … Virginia (1608), A Map of Virginia (1612), A Description of New England (1616), New England's Trials (1620, 2d ed. 1622), The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624), An Accidence; or, The Path-Way to Experience (1626; enl. and repub. as A Sea Grammer, 1627), The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine John Smith (1630), and Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England, or Anywhere (1631).

Bibliography: See edition of his works by E. Arber (1884; repr. and ed. by A. G. Bradley, 2 vol., 1910, repr. 1967); biographies by J. G. Fletcher (1928, repr. 1972), B. Smith (1953), P. L. Barbour (1964), N. B. Gerson (1966), and E. H. Emerson (1971).

Smith, John (1580–1631) English soldier and colonist. Smith took the leading role in establishing the first English colony in North America, at Jamestown (1607). Exploring Chesapeake Bay, he was captured by Powhatan and possibly saved from death by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas. In 1608, Smith saved the colony from starvation by obtaining maize from the local people. He returned to England in 1609, later writing his Description of New England (1616).

Smith, John (1580–1631) colonial governor, born in England. Smith early felt an urge to see the world. He visited several European nations and fought for Austria against Turkey before being captured. Returning to England in 1604, he was selected by the Virginia Company in London to serve as a member of the governing council in its Virginia colony. Smith and his fellow voyagers arrived in what is now Jamestown in May 1607 and established a settlement; Smith was soon captured by local Indians and adopted by their chief, Powhatan, perhaps because of intervention by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas. Smith continued to explore the region and sent maps and reports on the Virginia Indians to London. In 1608 he was elected president of the council, making him in effect the colony's governor; he was an able and effective leader whose administration brought about significant reductions in the death rate from disease among colonists. In 1609 the Virginia Company replaced him, and Smith returned to England, criticizing the company for putting quick commercial profit above the need to strengthen the colony's footing in America. In 1614 Smith visited the region north of Virginia, which he dubbed New England, but he failed in efforts to obtain funding for a new colony there.