Several Early Physicians; Wm. and Mary Qrtly, Vol. 14, No. 2, 1905 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Several Early Physicians William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 2, (Oct., 1905), pp, 96-100. In all adventures entailing danger or risk, provision is generally taken to have representation from the medical profession. And so among the first settlers at Jamestown we hear of William Wilkinson and Thomas Wooton, "surgeons". In the first supply which arrived at Jamestown in January, 1608, Walter Russell, "Doctor of Physic", and Post Guinnat, a chirurgeon, appeared. Russell accompanied John Smith the next summer in his exploration of Chesapeake Bay, and it was due to his skill that Smith escaped death by a fish near the mouth of the Rappahannock River. He was stung by a stingray. His hand, arm and shoulder swelled to such a size that his death was so certainly expected that his companions prepared a grave for him on an Island; but Doctor Russell, by dressing the wound with an ointment which he had on hand, so relieved the pain and swelling that, instead of filling a grave with his dead body, Smith filled his stomach that very evening with Page 97. the fish which had so tormented him. Russell died prior to Setpember, 1609. The next physician we hear of was Dr. Lawrence Bohun, who arrived with Lord Delaware in June, 1610. He was educated "among the most learned surgeons and physicians in the Netherlands". His services were of great value to the poor survivors of the Starving Time and the many sick among the new arrivals. Lord Delaware in his letter to the Council, July 7, 1610, especially commended him. The next year he accompanied Delaware to the West Indies and thence to England. Eight years later he was one of a company who arranged to plant 300 settlers in Virginia, to raise tobacco. Thereupon, the London Company appointed him "Physician general of the Colony", and to support the dignity of the office gave him 500 acres and ten servants. In January, 1621, he set out for Virginia in the Margaret and John, commanded by Captain Anthony Chester; but in the West Indies the ship was attacked by two Spanish men of war. The English ship was 160 tons burden and carried 8 guns, and in handling them the gunners were much embarrased by the household goods with which the ship was loaded. The Spanish vessels were each 300 tons burden and carried in all 38 big guns. And yet so gallantly did the English conduct themselves that they drove off the Spaniards and inflicted heavy damage upon them. During this fight, which takes its place among the most glorious exploits of the English, the passengers and sailors fought side by side, and Dr. Bohun received a mortal wound. Captain Chester embraced him and exclaimed, "Oh! Dr. Bohun, what a disaster is this!" The noble Doctor replied, "Fight it out brave man, the cause is good, and the Lord receive my soul". After the news of the death of Dr. Bohun the London Company selected as his successor John Pott, who was a Master of Arts and was recommended to the company by the famous Dr. Theodorick Gulstone as "well practiced in chirurgerie and Physic and expert also in distilling of waters". He was made one of the council to the new governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, and came over to Virginia with him in the George in November, 1621. Dr. Pott came from the Harrop branch of the Pott Page 98. family, and was probably son of Henry Pott, of Harrop and his cousin Grace Pott, daughter of John Pott, of Dunge, in Cheshire, and Bridget, daughter of Roger Jodrill, of Ersnick(1). He was followed to Virginia by his brother, Francis Pott, and in a land grant to the latter for 2000 acres at Matchepungo, Northampton Co., there are mentioned also among the head rights - Hattill Pott, Henry Pott, John Pott, Jr., and Bridget Pott. Dr. Pott had a varied experience in Virginia, and his name is curiously mixed up with several very grave offenses. After the treacherous massacre by the Indians in 1622, the feelings of the English settlers were naturally much embittered against a people who had violated all laws of faith and hospitality; and as the Indians hid themselves in out of way places, poison, it is said, was made use of to destroy them. Of the details of this iniquity we know nothing for certain, but it enabled his enemy, Sir Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, who charged Pott with being the author, to have his name dropped from the list of councillors named in the commission granted to Sir Francis Wyatt in 1624. As, however, his name was restored two years later, we have reason to suppose that on a more thorough investigation the charge was found erroneous. It was not long before a new trouble developed. In 1629, on the departure of Col. Francis West, Pott became acting governor, and discharged the duties for a year. During Pott's administration George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, visited Jamestown with a view to a settlement, but was coldly treated and sailed to England, where he obtained a patent for Maryland in 1632. Upon Harvey's arrival as governor in March, 1640, charges were pre- ferred against Pott by his enemies. He appeared before the general court on July 9, 1630, and before a jury of thirteen was tried for stealing cattle. The first day was occupied in pleading, and Richard Kingsmill, an old planter, testified adversely. The next day Pott asserted tht the witness was unreliable and hypocritical, and told the story of Gussman of Alfrach, the Rogue. Don Juan Gussman in his narrative declared that he reached Ireland in a ship and _____________________________________________________________________________ (1) See pedigree of the Potts in Familiae Gentium Minorum. Page 99. was seized by the servants of Mahona and taken to his castle, and from thence was sent to the Earl of Desmond, where he was examined by the legate of the Pope and escaped suspicion by a forged passport and then went to Limerick, where he attended the church of England and assisted to expel cattle stealers. This story was a tissue of falsehoods. The jury declared Pott guilty, but Harvey declined to pronounce judgment until the king's pleasure could be known, and he wrote to England that Pott was "the only physician in the colony skilled in epidemical diseases", and suggested that his estate should be restored in view of his long residence and the value of his services. Elizabeth, the Doctor's wife, impelled by affection, reached London in September, after an absence of ten years, and with earnestness pleaded for her husband. The case was referred to commissioners, who considered the case against Pott and reported that there was no sufficient proof to justify the proccedings against his life and estate, and that the sentence was "rigorous if not erroneous". They recommended the pardon which was granted. In the quarrel between William Claiborne and Lord Baltimore for the pos- session of Maryland, Dr. Pott was prominent in maintaining the side of the Virginia colonists and was one of the daring councillors who arrested Sir John Harvey in 1635, and sent him back to England; but the King sent orders for the conspirators to appear in England, and Pott must have died soon after, as his name ceased to appear in the records. Dr. Pott had a house in Jamestown on the Back Street near Orchard Run, and, in 1624, he patented three acres adjoining it. In 1629, he patented 9 acres more reaching back towards Back River. He was the first man to build in the neighborhood of Williamsburg, and on June 6, 1632, obtained a patent for land at the head of Archer's Hope Creek, which he called Harrop, north of Tuttey's Neck. This land fell afterwards to Col. Humphrey Higginson, who married per- haps Pott's widow, Elizabeth. He appears to have died without issue, since in a grant to Richard Brewster, in 1642, the land is described as purchased Page 100. from Captain Francis Pott(1), "brother and heir of Dr. John Pott". _____________________________________________________________________________ (1) Captain Francis Pott came to Virginia before 1628, since in that year he renewed a patent taken out in the name of Dr. John Pott. After the Fort at Old Point was rebuilt, in 1630, by Col. Samuel Mathews, Francis Pott was made Captain. He was removed by Sir John Harvey about 1634 and Francis Hooke of the Royal Navy was put in command. Harvey's conduct doubtless fired Pott's resentment, and when Maryland was granted away and Harvey sided with Lord Baltimore, Francis Pott took a leading part in getting up a meeting at York to protest to the King against the governor. Harvey had him and two other leading mutineers, Nicholas Martian and William English, arrested and thrown into prison. But the Councillors, one of whom was Dr. John Pott, did not stand by Harvey and, on the contrary, arrested him and sent him prisoner to England in the custody of Thomas Harwood and his quondam prisoner, Francis Pott. Here the tables were again turned and Francis Pott was confined for a long time close prisoner in the Fleet Prison. Regaining his liberty, he returned to Virginia and settled in Northampton County, where he obtained, as already mentioned, a grant for 2000 acres. His will was proved in Northampton County, October 12, 1658, and names his nephew, John Pott, kinsman Captain Henry Perry and his wife, and his three sisters, Katherine, Mary and Bridget. Bridget Pott, sister of Captain Francis Pott, married (I) Doctor John Severn, of North- ampton Co., and (II) Captain Stephen Charleton, who married secondly, Ann West, widow of Captain Anthony West. By her marriage with Doctor Severn, Bridget Pott had John and Peter Severn, and by her marriage with Captain Charleton she had Elizabeth and Bridget Charleton, who married respectively John Gittings and Isaac Foxcraft, Jun., a ship captain of Hull in Yorkshire. Neither of the daughters had issue, but the Severns are numerously represented in Virginia to-day. John Pott, nephew of Captain Francis Pott, moved to Patuxent in Maryland, where he was one of the justices in 1657. John Severn speaks of his "uncle Francis Pott", in the records of North- ampton County. He married Elizabeth Chapman. John Pott is also spoken of as "brother (brother-in-law) to Stephen Charleton", and in the same records Bridget Pott speaks of her "son, John Severn". The name "Severn" has come down in the names of Severn Eyre, Severn E. Parker, and others. According to the will of Captain Charleton, Bridget Charleton's share of his estate went to the Parish on her demise without children. The glebe consisting of 1500 or 1600 acres of the best land in the country has been in the possession of the vestry ever since. Charleton himself is honorably mentioned by Col. Charles Norwood in the account of his visit to the Eastern Shore in 1649. Meade, Old Churches and Families, I. 255.