Person:John Dodson (1)

Hello I am also descendant of Charles Dodson. I have new information that the people claiming that Benjamin Dodson came over on a ship with Captain William Peirce are Worng! Thru my reading of the document in question, containing the “proof” that Benjamin came over on a ship, and not born in Jamestown. I found that the evidence is false, and the amateur historian who did the work, spread the lies around the internet very forcefully. Turns out she ks wrong. Carolyn J Wilder is and was wrong about Benjamin Dodson. Close examination of the document showes she misread the document, blending the first name of Benjamin Webber, with the last name of John Dodson.

History Transformed into Mythology

The original entry for John Dods listed him as John Dods/Dodson and included the following unreferenced excerpt. These notes are from a self-published history by Mrs. C.T. Dodson (1964). Note the replacement of DODSON for the documented DODS.

"JOHN (1) DODSON

"John (1) Dodson came over to America from England with Capt. John Smith in 1607. There were a hundred and five men in this company that founded the first permanent English Colony in America.

"They reached the capes of Virginia April 1607, and sailed up the broad river, thirty two miles from the river's mouth. They named the river, James and their settlement Jamestown, in honor of their King.

"The colonists soon erected cabins out of poles and branches and some dug caves to live in.

"The site of the colony was unhealthy, and the deaths, especially during the first few years of the colony, were horrifying. From 1606 to 1618, a period of twelve years, eighteen hundred immigrants sailed from England for Virginia. At the end of that time only six hundred were living.

- excerpted - "In spite of all the hardships John (1) Dodson survived and was reported to have been a mighty hunter and fur trader and in his dealings with the Indians became the possessor of large bodies of land. He was a good citizen

John Dodson came over to America from England with Capt. John Smith in 1607. There were a hundred and five men in this company that founded the first permanent English Colony in America.

They reached the capes of Virginia, April 1607, and sailed up the broad river, thirty two miles from the river's mouth. They named the river, James and their settlement, Jamestown, in honor of their King.

The colonists soon erected cabins out of poles and branches and some dug caves to live in.

The site of the colony was unhealthy, and the deaths, especially during the first few years of the colony, were horrifying. From 1606 to 1618, a period of twelve years, eighteen hundred immigrants sailed from England for Virginia. At the end of that time only six hundred were living.

Attacks by Indians, starvation, and the system of holding property in common added to the difficulties of the colonists. But in 1612 they began to grow tobacco and they fared better.

The year 1619 brought three important events to Virginia and the colonists, Virginia was permitted to enjoy a measure of self government; a ship load, eighty, prospective wives arrived from England (probably Jesse Dodson and William Dodson married two of these women). The colonist could secure a wife, with her permission, and by paying her transportation, in the amount of one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco--about $500 dollars worth; and the first Negro slaves landed in Virginia.

In spite of all the hardships, John Dodson survived and was reported to have been a mighty hunter and fur trader and in his dealings with the Indians became the possessor of large bodies of land. He was a good citizen.

1. ↑ Dorman, John Frederick. Adventurers of purse and person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5. (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, c2004, 4th edition)
   9.

   Transcription of muster roll for Jamestown survivors.

2.   Dodson, C. T. Ancestors of Robert Dodson and his descendants. (Austin, Texas: Dodson, c1965).

   This book is frequently listed as "proof" of the parentage for Charles Dodson and the story of Jane Eagle Plume. It is a family history that lacks substantiation and/or documentation.

3. ↑ This is an unsubstantiated claim that John Dods of Jamestown was somehow a Dodson.