A Man of Ambition
A Man of Ambition
John Kimbrough sets his course
Crossing the stormy Atlantic from London to Virginia in the 17th century was perilous at best. But the hurricane of 1667, the year John and Mary Kimbrough arrived in Colonial Virginia, was record-setting. In September, the full force of what became known as the Dreadful Hurricane of 1667 hit near Jamestown, Virginia, destroying ships, tobacco crops, and more than 10,000 buildings. Heavy rains pounded the area for twelve days straight.
By then, the Kimbrough’s had already set off in the calmer waters of the Chesapeake Bay bound for Port Tobacco, Maryland. They followed the Chesapeake to where it met the Potomac River, they branched off again to follow the Port Tobacco River to their destination. At each turn and tributary, the Kimbrough’s were surrounded by raw, unspoiled beauty. As the ship drew closer to shore, the Kimbrough’s three children would join their parents on deck to watch huge Canvasback ducks diving for fish. In dramatic display, the ducks would land fast and hard, plowing a wide furrow through the water’s smooth surface, then skid to a stop on its big duck feet. Thick stands of cattail and saltgrass lined the marshy shoreline, while in the distance a wealth of trees, from red maple to white cedar, crowded the horizon.
Port Tobacco
However, after months of planning and the monotony of the sea, John was itching to get settled. And for the 27-year old Scots there was no better place for a man of ambition than Port Tobacco. Historically, the area was the homeland of the Algonquian-speaking Potapoco*, but by the mid-1600s, the English had claimed the valuable river port and turned it into a bustling trading center in the heart of Maryland’s great tobacco-growing region. More importantly, the port was the shipping terminus for goods being transported to and from well-traveled lanes across the Atlantic and to the deep water port on the Potomac River.
Swept by ocean breezes, yet protected from the Atlantic’s destructive storms, the port was the second largest town in Maryland. Massive oaks edged its outskirts, while the streets were lined with saltbox houses, a few two-story homes, public houses, shops and a Catholic and an Anglican Church.
Two Decisions
For John, though, Port Tobacco’s big draw was its commerce. While he didn’t have much money, John was smart, (he could read and write), savvy, and not a little lucky. Early on John had made two decisions that would be the foundation for his later good fortune. First, he paid his family’s passage with money borrowed from his father-in-law. Back then, the cost of passage from England to America cost about six pounds a person, the equivalent of about $1,344 in 2020 dollars. That money allowed the Kimbrough’s to sail on a merchant ship, rather than on an immigrant ship packed with indentured servants.
Second, again thanks to Mary’s dad, by paying their own passage the Kimbrough’s were spared the burden of servitude. Indentured servants were the primary labor force on tobacco plantations. Land owners paid for an immigrant’s passage and in exchange, they agreed to work as indentured servants for five to seven years without pay. At the end of that time, the immigrant would receive a package of so-called benefits that included 25-50 acres of land, called head rights. However, due to the hardships of plantation life, 40 percent of these immigrants didn’t live long enough to claim their benefits. In that case, the deceased’s head rights went to the employer.
By paying his own way to the colonies, John was well ahead of the game by the time he landed at Port Tobacco. Acquiring land would be his next order of business.
Notes
*Today the Potapoco as a people are extinct. Port Tobacco is now a historic village with seven residents.
**Plantation owners eventually discontinued using indentured servants because their temporary status rendered them unprofitable. Mainly, though, the practice ended in 1619 when slave labor was introduced in the tobacco-growing colonies. Unlike indentured servants, slaves were bound to their owners for life and in return for their work they received neither pay, nor property, nor their freedom.
NEXT on A History in Progress
John Kimbrough’s lessons on how to make a fortune.