re them. The wills of the first half of the 17th century
show that few of the smaller planters even when they had attained a
fair degree of prosperity made use of servant labor. Thus there was in
Virginia at this period a class of men who owned their own land and
tilled it entirely with their own hands. This condition of affairs
continued until the influx of negroes, which began about the year
1680, so diminished the cost of labor that none but the smallest
proprietors were dependent entirely upon their own exertions for the
cultivation of their fields.[154]

These men, like the wealthy planters, raised tobacco for exportation,
but they also planted enough corn for their own consumption. Their
support was largely from cattle and hogs, which were usually allowed
to wander at large, seeking sustenance in the woods or upon
unpatented land. The owners branded them in order to make
identification possible.[155] Some of the small farmers owned but one
cow and a few hogs, but others acquired numbers of the animals. The
testament of Edward Wilmoth, of Isle of Wight County, drawn in 1647,
is typical of the wills of that period. "I give," he says, "unto my
wife ... four milch cows, a steer, and a heifer that is on Lawns Creek
side, and a young yearling bull. Also I give unto my daughter Frances
a yearling heifer. Also I give unto my son John Wilmoth a cow calf,
and to my son Robert Wilmoth a cow calf."[156]

The patent rolls, some of which have been preserved to the present
day, show that the percentage of free immigrants to the colony was
quite appreciable during the years immediately following the downfall
of the London Company. There are on record 501 patents that were
issued between the dates 1628 and 1637, and in connection with them
are mentioned, either as recipients of land or as persons transported
to the colony, 2,675 names. Of these 336 are positively known to have
come over as freemen, and most of them as heads of families. There are
245 others who were probably freemen, although this has not yet been
proved. The remainder are persons whose transportation charges were
paid by others, including indentured servants, negroes, wives,
children, etc. Thus it is quite certain that of the names on this list
over one fourth were those of free persons, who came as freemen to
Virginia and established themselves as citizens of the colony.[157]
Although the patent rolls that have been preserved are far from
complete, there is no