Elizabeth Hope “Ray” Vest married John Valentine Vest in Virginia in 1705. She was a second generation of US born family member and she was my 6th Great Grand Mother.
Elizabeth’s family was from the Salem, Massachusetts, and arrived from England in the Plymouth area in the early 1600’s. Elizabeth’s Grand Parents were Rea, which became Ray and Waters families that were settling in this growing community of Salem in the 1600’s.
The history or both families and how they tie to the Vest family is great. There is deep history to explore and I will be sharing it over the next few blog posts.
The voyage from England was certainly a challenge for Elizabeth’s Grand Fathers family. Each ocean vessel was built from wood of over 2500 trees on average and this one reason that finding an abundance of wood in the new world really over whelmed the average Colonist.
Each family that traveled from England had to pack up all of their possessions in trunks, bring food, water, tools and animals that they would need on board of the ship. During the trip, the food would become spoiled and boat was crammed full of people. There would be no private quarters and the smell would have been just horrible. The long journey lasted between 6 to 8 weeks and food shortage plus disease was always an issue on the journey. Many a colonist did not make the whole journey and passed away on the voyage only to be casted over board after their death.
During the early 1600’s, the English settlements had to watch for Spanish and other countries coming and attacking the newly established colony. Colony placement had to be made in strong points. Plymouth would be founded after the fall of Roanoke and the establishment of Jamestown in 1607. A constant watch had to be made over the protection of the community from the Spanish, French, Dutch and the Indians.
With only a little over a 100 people landed at the colony at a time, the people sought shelter on the ship until shelter could be built. The early shelters were tents and later progressed to dug out and wooden structures. The dug out was a technique where the colonist would dig down several feed into the earth for a very small room the size of 20 by 20. Support beams would be added to the corners and boards would be used for the walls. The roof was thatch and sod. This new how had only one door and that door would be made where a person would need to bend down to come into the building. This would make it easier to defend from predators and people trying to get into the home for harm.
The colonist would then begin to setup a community by building farms. Since there was an abundance of trees, land had to be cleared by axe, hoe and ploughs. Once the land was clear, crops could be planted for food and for trading. The tobacco plant has planted in the Virginia region and would be a cash crop for being sent back to England.
Elizabeth was born in Powhatan, Virginia names after a powerful Indian leader and father of Pocahontas.
After marrying John Valentine, she would have the following children, John Daniel Vest, George Vest, Valentine Vest, Elizabeth Ann Vest and Phillip Vest. They would live together until their deaths in 1735.

For Further Reading and Information, check out the two books listed below.  I highly recommend both books.  Check out the link on the side of the page that will take you to Amazon for a quick purchase.
References
Early American Life in Early America by David Freeman Hawke
American Colonies: The Settling of North America, Vol 1 by Alan Taylor

Originally posted 2018-02-10 22:32:44.