other religious works, medical and scientific
treatises, legal publications, accounts of gardening, and such. There
was local literary effort, too, such as that by Treasurer George Sandys
who continued his celebrated translation of Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ in
the house of William Pierce at Jamestown.

YEARDLEY AND WYATT

Yeardley, having instituted the measures of the "Greate Charter,"
continued to serve as Governor until November 18, 1621. His was a good
administration, yet it was not without criticism. There was some
unfavorable comment on his negotiations relative to Indian lands as well
as in the arrangement of various government fees. With so many personal
and private interests in so many of the individual settlements, it is
remarkable that he did not get into difficulties of a more serious
nature. Even when Sir Francis Wyatt relieved him as governor, he
continued on as a Councilor and was later to be Governor again. He had
been at the helm when Virginia enjoyed, perhaps, its best three years to
date--1619-21.

His successor, Wyatt, proved as popular and even survived the
dissolution of the Company. Wyatt, as others before and others to
follow, found the governorship to be expensive. It is reported that he
spent L1,000 in less than two years. Both Yeardley and Wyatt resided at
Jamestown from which, for the most part, they directed Colony affairs.
Here they maintained a most impressive establishment with their wives,
children and indentured servants including some of the negroes now
resident in the Colony.

It is in the 1619 to 1624 period that the first clear picture of at
least a part of the physical town of Jamestown emerges, for this period
corresponds with the earliest known property records that exist. The
town had outgrown the original fort in some years past and now appeared
as a fairly flourishing settlement. The records reveal that many of the
property owners were yeomen, merchants, carpenters, hog-raisers,
farmers, joiners, shopkeepers, and ordinary "fellows," as well as
colonial officials. The "New Town" section of James City developed in
this period as the old section proved too small and the residents began
to build more substantial houses, principally frame on brick
foundations. Even so, the town was far from that of a city, perhaps,
only a village at best. It was, nonetheless, as close to a hub of
political, social, and economic life as completely rural Virginia had.
It was the Colony's capital