The Spring Meeting of the Chesapeake Bay Company took place on April 23, 2011, at the Bayne Center at Historic Christ Church near Irvington. The April 23 meeting was the first opportunity for Chesapeake Bay Company members to see the new 3’x5’ Jamestowne Society flag and the smaller desktop flag given to the Company by the Society. The large flag is a replica of the large hand-embroidered silk flag which appears at Society meetings, and bears the Society crest on one side and emblem and motto on the other. The smaller flag carries the crest of the Society. These flags will be present at all future meetings, and join the United States flag which was generously donated to the Company by Beatrice J. England earlier.

 At least one, and possibly two, field trips will be scheduled for the summer months of 2011. Members will be notified by e-mail, and where there is no e-mail, by snail mail. Members are reminded to notify the Chesapeake Bay Company if your e-mail has changed. Anticipated dates are June and August. More information later!

 Our speaker for the Spring Membership Meeting was Merry Abbitt Outlaw, Assistant Curator of Jamestowne Rediscovery, who works on a daily basis with the exciting excavations at Historic Jamestowne. She presented a captivating talk, accompanied by a Power Point presentation, which so engaged those present that a lengthy question and answer period followed the presentation. Merry’s spouse, Alain C. Outlaw, was present as well, and he is remembered especially for the interesting presentation he gave to the Jamestowne Society on Argall Town.

 Things you would have learned if you had been there (and things you will remember if you were) which are nuggets of information gleaned from the recent excavations on the site:

• -- The church tower is actually from the 1680s, rather than earlier;
• -- A search has begun for earlier churches on the site;
• -- While some of the top layers of soil are mechanically removed, there is no substitute for the meticulous hand excavation involving trowels,   spoons and dust pans;
• -- Soil excavated is placed in sifting screens;
• -- Outlines of surface features are drawn on the ground;
• -- From the bottom of post holes believed to outline the early church, Venetian trade beads, scrap copper and a rosette which is believed to have been used on armour was found; these and other indicia helped date the construction;
• -- Structure outlined showed a church that was 24 feet wide and 60 feet long which exactly matches the dimensions of the 1608 church;
• -- Within the church at the east end of the building are at least six graves, and there are plans to excavate these in the fall with Dr. Doug Owsley of the Smithsonian, a former Society meeting speaker who is well known for his “Written in Bone” exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution;
• -- Pocahontas married John Rolfe within the church building now being excavated;
• -- A well being excavated had been dated as between 1608 and 1610 because of the artifacts which it contained;
• -- A famous “slate” was found within that well, possibly the ship’s slate from the “Sea Venture,” which wrecked on Bermuda, but whose survivors arrived in the “Patience” and “Deliverance” later in Jamestowne;
• -- The second church stood only until 1617; Argoll’s church was destroyed in 1632; the currently remaining church tower was built between 1680 and 1682.

Following the talk and the question and answer period, all present enjoyed an excellent buffet luncheon by Willaby’s, and several remained to tour lovely Historic Christ Church. Member Janice Shanks accompanied Alain and Merry Outlaw and member Bryan Godfrey, and shared her in-depth knowledge of the old church and its environs.

If you missed it, don’t miss the next one, and don’t skip the field trips! While these recaps are an attempt to go over what we did, it’s never as good as being there!